Attitudes towards neurology among medical undergraduates

Diseases of the nervous system are an important contributor to clinical and social problems. Therefore there is a need to provide undergraduates and postgraduates of medical faculties with adequate training in neurology. However, many shortcomings have been observed in this field, often associated with students’ negative perception of neurology. The aim of this study was to explore attitudes towards neurology amongst undergraduates of the medical faculty at Wroclaw Medical University, and the reasons for these attitudes. As a qualitative component of the study, a focus group discussion was conducted with six fifth year undergraduates. The findings of the focus group and a literature search informed the content of a questionnaire distributed among fifth year students of the medical faculty, including non-Poles attending English Division. The responses to the closed questions were analysed quantitatively and subjected to statistical analysis while the free text comments were analysed qualitatively. Triangulation of the findings from the focus group and the survey was performed. 134 Polish students and 75 English-speaking ones responded to the survey. The majority of participants perceived neurology to be interesting and important for medical education, and it was highly ranked as a potential future speciality. The majority of the survey respondents regarded neurology as difficult and mentioned specific drawbacks. In spite of similar general perceptions of neurology, Polish and English- -speaking students differed in their perceptions of particular aspects, conditioned by diversity in cultural backgrounds and earlier experiences associated with neurology. The course in neurology affected attitudes towards the subject more than preceding experiences, mostly in a positive manner. The fifth year medical undergraduates expressed mostly positive attitudes towards neurology. Cultural background and the course in neurology were the main factors contributing to attitudes in these students

Performing the Union: the Prüm Decision and the European dream

In 2005, seven European countries signed the so-called Prüm Treaty to increase transnational collaboration in combating international crime, terrorism and illegal immigration. Three years later, the Treaty was adopted into EU law. EU member countries are obliged to have systems in place to allow authorities of other member states access to nationally held data on DNA, fingerprints, and vehicles by August 2011. In this paper, we discuss the conditions of possibility for the Prüm network to emerge, and argue that rather than a linear story of technological and political convergence and harmonisation, the (hi)story of Prüm is heterogeneous and patchy. This is reflected also in the early stages of implementing the Prüm Decision which proves to be more difficult than it was hoped by the drivers of the Prüm process. In this sense, the Prüm network sits uncomfortably with success stories of forensic science (many of which served the goal of justifying the expansion of technological and surveillance systems). Instead of telling a story of heroic science, the story of Prüm articulates the European dream: One in which goods, services, and people live and travel freely and securely

Variability of eta Carinae III

Spectra (1951-78) of the central object in eta Car, taken by A.D. Thackeray, reveal three previously unrecorded epochs of low excitation. Since 1948, at least, these states have occurred regularly in the 2020 day cycle proposed by Damineli et al. They last about 10 percent of each cycle. Early slit spectra (1899-1919) suggest that at that time the object was always in a low state. JHKL photometry is reported for the period 1994-2000. This shows that the secular increase in brightness found in 1972-94 has continued and its rate has increased at the shorter wavelengths. Modulation of the infrared brightness in a period near 2020 days continues. There is a dip in the JHKL light curves near 1998.0, coincident with a dip in the X-ray light curve. Evidence is given that this dip in the infrared repeats in the 2020 day cycle. As suggested by Whitelock & Laney, the dip is best interpreted as an eclipse phenomenon in an interacting binary system; the object eclipsed being a bright region (`hot spot'), possibly on a circumstellar disc or produced by interacting stellar winds. The eclipse coincides in phase and duration with the state of low excitation. It is presumably caused by a plasma column and/or by one of the stars in the system.Comment: 10 pages, 7 postscript figures, accepted for MNRA

Interventions for the well-being of healthcare workers during a pandemic or other crisis : scoping review

Funding This study was supported by Chief Scientist Office of Scotland, grant number COV/ABN/20/06. Acknowledgements The authors thank Vicki Cormie, librarian at University of St Andrews, for advice on conducting scoping reviews.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Supporting doctors’ well-being and resilience during COVID-19 : a framework for rapid and rigorous intervention development

Authors thank the Chief Scientist Office, Scotland for supporting the research.This paper aims to outline the development of a theoretically informed and evidence-based intervention strategy to underpin interventions to support the well-being of doctors during COVID-19 and beyond; delineate new ways of working were employed to ensure a rapid and rigorous process of intervention development and present the resulting novel framework for intervention development. The research comprised four workstreams: literature review (WS1), qualitative study (WS2), intervention development and implementation (WS3) and evaluation (WS4). Due to time constraints, we employed a parallel design for WS1–3 with the findings of WS1–2 informing WS3 on a continual basis. WS3 was underpinned by the Behaviour Change Wheel. We recruited expert panels to assist with intervention development. We reflected on decisions taken to facilitate the rapid yet rigorous process of intervention development. The empirical output was a theoretically informed and evidence-based intervention strategy to underpin interventions to support doctors' well-being during COVID-19 and beyond. The methodological output was a novel framework that facilitates rapid and rigorous development of interventions. The intervention strategy provides a foundation for development and evaluation of tailored interventions to support doctors' well-being. The novel framework provides guidance for the development of interventions where the situation demands a rapid yet rigorous development process.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A comment on the PCAST report:skip the “match”/“non-match” stage

This letter comments on the report “Forensic science in criminal courts: Ensuring scientific validity of feature-comparison methods” recently released by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The report advocates a procedure for evaluation of forensic evidence that is a two-stage procedure in which the first stage is “match”/“non-match” and the second stage is empirical assessment of sensitivity (correct acceptance) and false alarm (false acceptance) rates. Almost always, quantitative data from feature-comparison methods are continuously-valued and have within-source variability. We explain why a two-stage procedure is not appropriate for this type of data, and recommend use of statistical procedures which are appropriate

Optoacoustics delineates murine breast cancer models displaying angiogenesis and vascular mimicry.

BACKGROUND: Optoacoustic tomography (OT) of breast tumour oxygenation is a promising new technique, currently in clinical trials, which may help to determine disease stage and therapeutic response. However, the ability of OT to distinguish breast tumours displaying different vascular characteristics has yet to be established. The aim of the study is to prove OT as a sensitive technique for differentiating breast tumour models with manifestly different vasculatures. METHODS: Multispectral OT (MSOT) was performed in oestrogen-dependent (MCF-7) and oestrogen-independent (MDA-MB-231) orthotopic breast cancer xenografts. Total haemoglobin (THb) and oxygen saturation (SO2MSOT) were calculated. Pathological and biochemical evaluation of the tumour vascular phenotype was performed for validation. RESULTS: MCF-7 tumours show SO2MSOT similar to healthy tissue in both rim and core, despite significantly lower THb in the core. MDA-MB-231 tumours show markedly lower SO2MSOT with a significant rim-core disparity. Ex vivo analysis revealed that MCF-7 tumours contain fewer blood vessels (CD31+) that are more mature (CD31+/aSMA+) than MDA-MB-231. MCF-7 presented higher levels of stromal VEGF and iNOS, with increased NO serum levels. The vasculogenic process observed in MCF-7 was consistent with angiogenesis, while MDA-MB-231 appeared to rely more on vascular mimicry. CONCLUSIONS: OT is sensitive to differences in the vascular phenotypes of our breast cancer models

The Glasgow Coma Scale and Evidence-Informed Practice: a critical review of where we are and where we need to be

Aims and Objectives This critical review considers the evidence since the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was first launched, reflecting on how that evidence has shaped practice. It illustrates the lack of clarity and consensus about the use of the tool in practice and draws upon existing evidence in order to determine the route to clarity for an evidence-informed approach to practice. Background The GCS has permeated and influenced practice for over 40 years, being well-established worldwide as the key tool for assessing level of consciousness. During this time, the tool has been scrutinised, evaluated, challenged and relaunched in a plethora of publications. This has led to an insight into the challenges, and to some extent the opportunities, in using the GCS in practice but has also resulted in a lack of clarity. Design This is a discursive paper that invites readers to explore and arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the GCS in practice and is based on searches of Scopus, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Science Direct and CINAHL databases. Results While the GCS has been rivalled by other tools in an attempt to improve upon it, a shift in practice to those tools has not occurred. The tool has withstood the test of time in this respect, indicating the need for further research into its use and a clear education strategy to standardise implementation in practice. Conclusion Further exploration is needed into the application of painful stimuli in using the GCS to assess level of consciousness. Additionally, a robust educational strategy is necessary to maximise consistency in its use in practice

The Public Playground Paradox: "Child’s Joy" or Heterotopia of Fear?

Literature depicts children of the Global North withdrawing from public space to“acceptable islands”. Driven by fears both of and for children, the publicplayground – one such island – provides clear-cut distinctions between childhoodand adulthood. Extending this argument, this paper takes the original approach oftheoretically framing the playground as a heterotopia of deviance, examining –for the first time – three Greek public playground sites in relation to adjacentpublic space. Drawing on an ethnographic study in Athens, findings show fear tounderpin surveillance, control and playground boundary porosity. Normativeclassification as “children’s space” discourages adult engagement. However, in anovel and significant finding, a paradoxical phenomenon sees the playground’spresence simultaneously legitimizing playful behaviour in adjacent public spacefor children and adults. Extended playground play creates alternate orderings andnegotiates norms and hierarchies, suggesting significant wider potential toreconceptualise playground-urban design for an intergenerational public realm