You\u27ve Got a Friend in Me: The Effects of Peer Mentoring on the First Year Experience for Undergraduate Students

The current study aimed to explore the effects of peer mentoring on perceived levels of academic anxiety for a sample of first year Irish undergraduate students. This study employed a structured self-report questionnaire to collect data from participants (n=156) from four subject backgrounds; horticulture, business, engineering and computing. Participants were assigned to student mentors from senior cycles in the college in a peer mentoring programme. Participants completed a questionnaire at the culmination of the programme which was designed to investigate students’ reported levels of anxiety, difficulty settling in and their appreciation of the mentoring programme. Results indicated that difficulty in settling in and anxiety were predictors for considering dropping out. A combined effect of age and gender was identified such that older female students displayed the highest levels of anxiety and difficulty settling in

A photographic essay on landslides across southeastern New South Wales triggered by the rainfall events of 2022

Eastern Australia has experienced a significant magnitude rainfall event of extended duration in the first 7 months of 2022. Across the east coast of New South Wales (NSW) a series of troughs and East Coast Lows occurred during a La Nina weather cycle bringing above average rainfall to the region. As this first half of 2022 La Nina event was drawing to a close the Indian Ocean Dipole entered a negative phase which coincided with another intense East Coast Low in early July 2022 impacting the Illawarra region of NSW. These events caused widespread flooding and significant landslide damage to road and rail infrastructure across the state networks and local government infrastructure across NSW. During this extended wet period in the first 7 months of 2022 more than 200 landslides have been recorded across the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Blue Mountains regions of NSW whilst many more have occurred across the north coast region. This paper presents a brief and albeit preliminary summary of the rainfall and provides a series of photographs with very brief descriptions of some of these landslide events within southeastern NSW. The intent of the paper is to provide early guidance to AGS members of the nature and form of landslides that have occurred across the Illawarra region. This paper does not discuss the dual fatality resulting from the Wentworth Falls area rockfall of the 5th April

Renal outcomes of suprarenal vs. infrarenal endograft fixation in endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a narrative review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common pathology with a prevalence of 4.8%. AAA rupture is associated with significant mortality and so early diagnosis followed by regular monitoring is needed until treatment might be considered and plan intervention. Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is an established and effective alternative to open surgical repair (OSR) in the treatment of AAAs. Key parameters in defining conventional EVAR suitability include the infrarenal neck length and angulation for the fixation of the proximal graft component. Endograft fixation can be either suprarenal or infrarenal and much debate exists as to which approach is associated with optimum renal outcomes. This study aims to review the current literature with respect to the renal outcomes associated with conventional EVAR using suprarenal fixation (SRF) vs. infrarenal fixation (IRF). METHODS: A search was conducted from major search indices (PubMed, Google Scholar and EMBASE) to identify relevant literature pertaining to renal outcomes in EVAR. Recent papers comparing SRF and IRF were evaluated and their findings discussed. KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS: The mechanism of renal function decline (RFD) following EVAR is uncertain and likely multifactorial. Aortic morphology, endograft type and surgical technique may all contribute to RFD. There is a significant degree of heterogeneity within the literature regarding study design and definitions of RFD. Recent literature suggests that RFD is more acute for SRF than IRF in the first post-operative year, but the clinical significance of this decline in patients with normal kidney function is questionable. Studies indicate that SRF is associated with accelerated RFD at 5 years, and that the RFD is worse in patients who are female and who have pre-existing renal insufficiency. CONCLUSIONS: SRF is associated with a greater decline in renal function than IRF in both short- and long-terms. Although clinically insignificant in the short-term, the limited available long-term evidence suggests that SRF results in a relatively accelerated decline in renal function when compared to IRF, but it is possibly partially explained by the higher prevalence of advanced degenerative/atherosclerotic disease in SRF cohorts. These trends are noted particularly in female patients and in patients with baseline renal insufficiency

Moving toward a more comprehensive analysis of acceleration profiles in elite youth football

In football, having greater acceleration ability may decide the most important moments within matches. Up to now, commonly used acceleration variables have typically been investigated in isolation, with each variable suffering from unique limitations. Subsequently, any findings may provide a limited representation of what specific acceleration demands had actually occurred. Without gaining a comprehensive understanding of acceleration demands in football, it appears difficult to identify how to best monitor and maximize the long-term development of acceleration ability in footballers, all whilst doing so in a safe, sport-specific manner. Moving toward a more comprehensive analysis of acceleration profiles addresses this, as it can provide a more robust, informative understanding of the unique acceleration demands of competitive match-play. This perspective article aims to discuss the benefits of adopting a more comprehensive analysis of the acceleration demands during competitive matches for football players, by simultaneously analyzing high-intensity accelerations, repeated high acceleration ability (RHAA), and average acceleration. We discuss examples of the calculation and application of a more comprehensive acceleration profile at a team level throughout the course of an entire elite youth football season, as well as on an individual level. Monitoring acceleration profiles more comprehensively not only appears important from a training load/injury prevention perspective, but also, equips coaches and conditioning staff with the specific information necessary to develop and prescribe individualized, acceleration-emphasized training protocols that are replicable to the demands of match-play. Examples of such protocols are provided

A randomized, controlled, double-blind crossover study on the effects of isoeffective and isovolumetric intravenous crystalloid and gelatin on blood volume, and renal and cardiac hemodynamics

Background & aimsBlood volume expanding properties of colloids are superior to crystalloids. In addition to oncotic/osmotic properties, the electrolyte composition of infusions may have important effects on visceral perfusion, with infusions containing supraphysiological chloride causing hyperchloremic acidosis and decreased renal blood flow. In this non-inferiority study, a validated healthy human subject model was used to compare effects of colloid (4% succinylated gelatin) and crystalloid fluid regimens on blood volume, renal function, and cardiac output.MethodsHealthy male participants were given infusions over 60 min > 7 days apart in a randomized, crossover manner. Reference arm (A): 1.5 L of Sterofundin ISO, isoeffective arm (B): 0.5 L of 4% Gelaspan®, isovolumetric arm (C): 0.5 L of 4% Gelaspan® and 1 L of Sterofundin ISO (all B. Braun, Melsungen, Germany). Participants were studied over 240 min. Changes in blood volume were calculated from changes in weight and hematocrit. Renal volume, renal artery blood flow (RABF), renal cortex perfusion and diffusion, and cardiac index were measured with magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsTen of 12 males [mean (SE) age 23.9 (0.8) years] recruited, completed the study. Increase in body weight and extracellular fluid volume were significantly less after infusion B than infusions A and C, but changes in blood volume did not significantly differ between infusions. All infusions increased renal volume, with no significant differences between infusions. There was no significant difference in RABF across the infusion time course or between infusion types. Renal cortex perfusion decreased during the infusion (mean 18% decrease from baseline), with no significant difference between infusions. There was a trend for increased renal cortex diffusion (4.2% increase from baseline) for the crystalloid infusion. All infusions led to significant increases in cardiac index.ConclusionsA smaller volume of colloid (4% succinylated gelatin) was as effective as a larger volume of crystalloid at expanding blood volume, increasing cardiac output and changing renal function. Significantly less interstitial space expansion occurred with the colloid