Continued development of a detailed model of arc discharge dynamics

Using a previously developed set of codes (SEMC, CASCAD, ACORN), a parametric study was performed to quantify the parameters which describe the development of a single electron indicated avalanche into a negative tip streamer. The electron distribution function in Teflon is presented for values of the electric field in the range of four-hundred million volts/meter to four billon volts/meter. A formulation of the scattering parameters is developed which shows that the transport can be represented by three independent variables. The distribution of ionization sites is used to indicate an avalanche. The self consistent evolution of the avalanche is computed over the parameter range of scattering set

Teaching Medical Humanities in Medical Schools with Open Education Resources

In this chapter we will explore various ways in which open education resources might be utilised in the teaching of medical humanities in medical schools. Open education resources are generic open access materials in a particular field, which can be used by educators and students alike to support teaching and learning. They might be particularly useful when an institution lacks staff with specific expertise to teach essential but ‘minority’ subjects. The open and generic nature of these resources almost always means that they can be used flexibly to suit the teaching and learning contexts in which they are used. However, that same generic character means that they will be rarely directed towards specific learning outcomes, and therefore educators might struggle to fit them into teaching programmes, or have to alter their own learning outcomes and curricula in order to fit the resources available.Here, we outline and reflect upon different ways we have used open access medical humanities materials developed by the ALCMAEON project to support teaching in UK medical programmes the medical schools at the University of Bristol and University of St Andrews respectively. We begin by discussing the difficulties often encountered in teaching medical humanities in the crowded medical curriculum, before outlining what open education resources are and how they can help, with particular reference to the ALCMAEON project. We then outline and reflect on three different ways in which the ALCMAEON resources have been used to support teaching and learning with medical humanities, and consider the wider lessons we can draw from that experience about the use and development of open education resources to support learning and teaching of ‘minority’ subjects in medical curricula.<br/

The Effect of Succinic Acid on Metabolic Profile in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity and Insulin Resistance

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The Impact of a Digital Artificial Intelligence System on the Monitoring and Self-management of Nonmotor Symptoms in People With Parkinson Disease: Proposal for a Phase 1 Implementation Study

Copyright 2022 The Authors. Background: Nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson disease are a major factor of disease burden but are often underreported in clinical appointments. A digital tool has been developed to support the monitoring and management of nonmotor symptoms. Objective: The aim of this study is to establish evidence of the impact of the system on patient confidence, knowledge, and skills for self-management of nonmotor symptoms, symptom burden, and quality of life of people with Parkinson and their care partners. It will also evaluate the usability, acceptability, and potential for adoption of the system for people with Parkinson, care partners, and health care professionals. Methods: A mixed methods implementation and feasibility study based on the nonadoption, abandonment, scale-up, spread, and sustainability framework will be conducted with 60 person with Parkinson-care partner dyads and their associated health care professionals. Participants will be recruited from outpatient clinics at the University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust Parkinson service. The primary outcome, patient activation, will be measured over the 12-month intervention period; secondary outcomes include the system\u27s impact on health and well-being outcomes, safety, usability, acceptability, engagement, and costs. Semistructured interviews with a subset of participants will gather a more in-depth understanding of user perspectives and experiences with the system. Repeated measures analysis of variance will analyze change over time and thematic analysis will be conducted on qualitative data. The study was peer reviewed by the Parkinson\u27s UK Non-Drug Approaches grant board and is pending ethical approval. Results: The study won funding in August 2021; data collection is expected to begin in December 2022. Conclusions: The study\u27s success criteria will be affirming evidence regarding the system\u27s feasibility, usability and acceptability, no serious safety risks identified, and an observed positive impact on patient activation. Results will be disseminated in academic peer-reviewed journals and in platforms and formats that are accessible to the general public, guided by patient and public collaborators

Effects of Capsaicin on the Hemodynamic Responses to Handgrip Exercise: Potential Influence of Race

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Fitness, PA, Perceived Competence, Parental Support, and Literacy Outcomes in the REACH After-School Sports Program

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the REACH program in increasing physical activity (PA) levels, cardiorespiratory fitness, perceived competence, self-efficacy, parental support, and literacy across a year-long after-school PA intervention. Participants (N = 78) were students who volunteered from after-school program at either one of the two intervention schools or the control schools. Data are presented from two time points: Baseline (Aug/Sep 2017), and Post (end of the school year in May 2018). Data consisted of PA levels measured by PAC-Q, PACER test, Harter’s Perceived Competence questionnaire, parental support, and literacy tests. School differences in post-intervention scores were found in three (parental support, literacy, PACER) of seven intervention-related measures. Most notably parental support was higher in intervention schools over the control and PACER scores were higher in one intervention school than the control. The results demonstrate that data collection methods may need to be reconsidered in diverse low-income schools. The dramatic amount of missing data and lack of student effort points to students perhaps being overwhelmed with standardized tests and performing tasks for researchers. This leads to a dilemma in data collection in after-school programs in low-income schools: researchers need data to understand what is happening but how are students being served by the data collection process? Researchers should consider new approaches to collect data in low-income urban after-school programs to limit loss of data and to make the data collection meaningful to student participants

Routine low-dose continuous or nocturnal oxygen for people with acute stroke: three-arm Stroke Oxygen Supplementation RCT.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Hypoxia is common after stroke and is associated with worse outcomes. Oxygen supplementation could prevent hypoxia and secondary brain damage. OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess whether or not routine low-dose oxygen supplementation in patients with acute stroke improves outcome compared with no oxygen; and (2) to assess whether or not oxygen given at night only, when oxygen saturation is most likely to be low, is more effective than continuous supplementation. DESIGN: Multicentre, prospective, randomised, open, blinded-end point trial. SETTING: Secondary care hospitals with acute stroke wards. PARTICIPANTS: Adult stroke patients within 24 hours of hospital admission and 48 hours of stroke onset, without definite indications for or contraindications to oxygen or a life-threatening condition other than stroke. INTERVENTIONS: Allocated by web-based minimised randomisation to: (1) continuous oxygen: oxygen via nasal cannula continuously (day and night) for 72 hours after randomisation at a flow rate of 3 l/minute if baseline oxygen saturation was ≤ 93% or 2 l/minute if > 93%; (2) nocturnal oxygen: oxygen via nasal cannula overnight (21:00-07:00) for three consecutive nights. The flow rate was the same as the continuous oxygen group; and (3) control: no routine oxygen supplementation unless required for reasons other than stroke. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome: disability assessed by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months by postal questionnaire (participant aware, assessor blinded). Secondary outcomes at 7 days: neurological improvement, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), mortality, and the highest and lowest oxygen saturations within the first 72 hours. Secondary outcomes at 3, 6, and 12 months: mortality, independence, current living arrangements, Barthel Index, quality of life (European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions, three levels) and Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living scale by postal questionnaire. RESULTS: In total, 8003 patients were recruited between 24 April 2008 and 17 June 2013 from 136 hospitals in the UK [continuous,n = 2668; nocturnal,n = 2667; control,n = 2668; mean age 72 years (standard deviation 13 years); 4398 (55%) males]. All prognostic factors and baseline characteristics were well matched across the groups. Eighty-two per cent had ischaemic strokes. At baseline the median Glasgow Coma Scale score was 15 (interquartile range 15-15) and the mean and median NIHSS scores were 7 and 5 (range 0-34), respectively. The mean oxygen saturation at randomisation was 96.6% in the continuous and nocturnal oxygen groups and 96.7% in the control group. Primary outcome: oxygen supplementation did not reduce disability in either the continuous or the nocturnal oxygen groups. The unadjusted odds ratio for a better outcome (lower mRS) was 0.97 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89 to 1.05;p = 0.5] for the combined oxygen groups (both continuous and nocturnal together) (n = 5152) versus the control (n = 2567) and 1.03 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.13;p = 0.6) for continuous versus nocturnal oxygen. Secondary outcomes: oxygen supplementation significantly increased oxygen saturation, but did not affect any of the other secondary outcomes. LIMITATIONS: Severely hypoxic patients were not included. CONCLUSIONS: Routine low-dose oxygen supplementation in stroke patients who are not severely hypoxic is safe, but does not improve outcome after stroke. FUTURE WORK: To investigate the causes of hypoxia and develop methods of prevention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN52416964 and European Union Drug Regulating Authorities Clinical Trials (EudraCT) number 2006-003479-11. FUNDING DETAILS: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit and Health Technology Assessment programmes and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 22, No. 14. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Size and emotion or depth and emotion? Evidence, using Matryoshka (Russian) dolls, of children using physical depth as a proxy for emotional charge

Background: The size and emotion effect is the tendency for children to draw people and other objects with a positive emotional charge larger than those with a negative or neutral charge. Here we explored the novel idea that drawing size might be acting as a proxy for depth (proximity).Methods: Forty-two children (aged 3-11 years) chose, from 2 sets of Matryoshka (Russian) dolls, a doll to represent a person with positive, negative or neutral charge, which they placed in front of themselves on a sheet of A3 paper. Results: We found that the children used proximity and doll size, to indicate emotional charge. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with the notion that in drawings, children are using size as a proxy for physical closeness (proximity), as they attempt with varying success to put positive charged items closer to, or negative and neutral charge items further away from, themselves