Online reflective diaries - using technology to strengthen the learning experience

Internet based technologies have benefits for students and staff in terms of time and information sharing. Students at the University of Glasgow were required to engage in reflective writing, with tutor support, as part of their course assessment. We examine the benefits of this approach in fostering a deep, holistic approach to learning, student contribution to course development through this reflection, and the issues in support of these activities

The Economic Impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on Ten Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States

Assesses outcomes of the first U.S. market-based program to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants, including impact on electricity markets, power companies' costs, and consumer prices; use of auction proceeds; and states' economic benefits

Exploring eight-armed intelligence through film

Mather (2019) provides a rich overview of the elements underlying octopus cognition and behavioral flexibility. Recently, two remarkable natural history films, My Octopus Teacher and The Octopus in My House have explored intimate human-octopus relationships with a wild (Octopus vulgaris) and a captive octopus (Octopus cyanea) respectively. Both films show rare behaviors that offer observations to test new hypotheses as well as a novel perspective on our own human relationships and place within the natural world. An interview with filmmaker Craig Foster from My Octopus Teacher reveals the profound and transformative power of forming a trusting relationship with such a cognitively capable yet evolutionarily distant group of animals

Toll Bridge Regulation: A Method of Mass Transit Financing and Air Quality Control

With regard to bridges, Congress moved at a slightly different pace, although a free bridge policy eventually prevailed. Both before and after the General Bridge Act of 1906 public and private bridges were permitted to charge tolls, limited only by the requirement that the charge remain reasonable and just. Later, in granting approval for the construction of each new bridge, Congress added the restriction that tolls could not exceed an amount necessary to repay the cost of construction. The General Bridge Act of 1946 limited this no-profit restriction to publicly-owned bridges, while privately-owned structures remained subject only to the reasonable and just standard

Motion of the Zinc Ions in Catalysis by a Dizinc Metallo-β-Lactamase

We report rapid-freeze-quench X-ray absorption spectroscopy of a dizinc metallo-β-lactamase (MβL) reaction intermediate. The Zn(II) ions in the dinuclear active site of the S. maltophilia Class B3 MβL move away from each other, by ∼0.3 Å after 10 ms of reaction with nitrocefin, from 3.4 to 3.7 Å. Together with our previous characterization of the resting enzyme and its nitrocefin product complex, where the Zn(II) ion separation relaxes to 3.6 Å, these data indicate a scissoring motion of the active site that accompanies the ring-opening step. The average Zn(II) coordination number of 4.5 in the resting enzyme appears to be maintained throughout the reaction with nitrocefin. This is the first direct structural information available on early stage dizinc metallo-β-lactamase catalysis

Giving patients granular control of personal health information: Using an ethics ‘Points to Consider’ to inform informatics system designers

Objective: There are benefits and risks of giving patients more granular control of their personal health information in electronic health record (EHR) systems. When designing EHR systems and policies, informaticists and system developers must balance these benefits and risks. Ethical considerations should be an explicit part of this balancing. Our objective was to develop a structured ethics framework to accomplish this. Methods: We reviewed existing literature on the ethical and policy issues, developed an ethics framework called a “Points to Consider” (P2C) document, and convened a national expert panel to review and critique the P2C. Results: We developed the P2C to aid informaticists designing an advanced query tool for an electronic health record (EHR) system in Indianapolis. The P2C consists of six questions (“Points”) that frame important ethical issues, apply accepted principles of bioethics and Fair Information Practices, comment on how questions might be answered, and address implications for patient care. Discussion: The P2C is intended to clarify whatis at stake when designers try to accommodate potentially competing ethical commitments and logistical realities. The P2C was developed to guide informaticists who were designing a query tool in an existing EHR that would permit patient granular control. While consideration of ethical issues is coming to the forefront of medical informatics design and development practices, more reflection is needed to facilitate optimal collaboration between designers and ethicists. This report contributes to that discussion

Four layer bandage compared with short stretch bandage for venous leg ulcers: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials with data from individual patients

<p><b>Objective:</b> To compare the effectiveness of two types of compression treatment (four layer bandage and short stretch bandage) in people with venous leg ulceration.</p> <p><b>Design:</b> Systematic review and meta-analysis of patient level data.</p> <p><b>Data:</b> sources Electronic databases (the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and National Research Register) and reference lists of retrieved articles searched to identify relevant trials and primary investigators. Primary investigators of eligible trials were invited to contribute raw data for re-analysis.</p> <p><b>Review:</b> methods Randomised controlled trials of four layer bandage compared with short stretch bandage in people with venous leg ulceration were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome for the meta-analysis was time to healing. Cox proportional hazards models were run to compare the methods in terms of time to healing with adjustment for independent predictors of healing. Secondary outcomes included incidence and number of adverse events per patient.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Seven eligible trials were identified (887 patients), and patient level data were retrieved for five (797 patients, 90% of known randomised patients). The four layer bandage was associated with significantly shorter time to healing: hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) from multifactorial model based on five trials was 1.31 (1.09 to 1.58), P=0.005. Larger ulcer area at baseline, more chronic ulceration, and previous ulceration were all independent predictors of delayed healing. Data from two trials showed no evidence of a difference in adverse event profiles between the two bandage types.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Venous leg ulcers in patients treated with four layer bandages heal faster, on average, than those of people treated with the short stretch bandage. Benefits were consistent across patients with differing prognostic profiles.</p&gt

The chances of retrieval of viable microorganisms deposited on the moon by unmanned lunar probes

Terrestrial microorganisms deposited on moon by unmanned lunar probe