Seeing Through the Eyes of Maximilian and Bodmer: Review of \u3ci\u3eThe North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied, Volume I: May 1832-April 1833.\u3c/i\u3e Edited by Stephen S. Witte and Marsha V. Gallagher.

The German prince Maximilian of WiedNeuwied (1782-1867) traveled up the Missouri River in 1832-33 to study American Indian culture before it was fatally compromised by the encroachment of Euro-American civilization. Aware of the expansionist and industrial dynamics of the Jacksonian Era in the United States, Maximilian wanted to study what he regarded as the vanishing Indian while there was still time. The idea had come to him during his 1815-17 journey through Brazil. For the publication that followed, Reise nach Brasilien in den Jahren 1815 his 1817 (1820), Maximilian had provided his own illustrations. These were criticized, including by his artistically talented siblings. When he ventured to North America in 1832, Maximilian wisely brought with him a professional illustrator, the Swiss-born Karl Bodmer (1809-93). What Maximilian wanted was a body of illustrations of such precision that they would exhibit what we would call photographic fidelity and detail. He got that. What he could not have anticipated is that Bodmer would produce some of the finest art of the Missouri River bioregion and its inhabitants. Heretical though it may seem in some quarters, the Maximilian-Bodmer expedition is in important respects more satisfying than the journals of Lewis and Clark. Thanks to the painstaking editorial work of Witte and Gallagher, we now, finally, 175 years after the fact, have the opportunity to explore Maximilian\u27s journals comprehensively. What we discover there is a man of deep human sympathies, a brilliant observer of landscapes and peoples, an Enlightenment exemplar whose encyclopedic field notes were undistorted by America\u27s imperial mission

Large eddy simulation of plume dispersion behind an aircraft in the take-off phase

The aim of this paper is to provide an investigation, using large eddy simulation, into plume dispersion behind an aircraft in co-flowing take-off conditions. Validation studies of the computational model were presented by Aloysius and Wrobel (Environ Model Softw 24:929–937, 2009) and a study of the flow and dispersion properties of a double-engine aircraft jetwas presented by Aloysius et al. EEC/SEE/2007/001,EUROCONTROLExperimentalCentre, http://www.eurocontrol.int/eec/gallery/content/public/document/eec/report/2007/ 032_ALAQS_comparison_of_CFD_and_Lagrangian_dispersion_methods.pdf), in which only the engine was modelled. In this paper, the complete geometry of a Boeing 737 is modelled and investigated. The currentwork represents a contribution towards a better understanding of the source dynamics behind an airplane jet engine during the take-off and landing phases. The information provided from these simulations will be useful for future improvements of existing dispersion models

Patient expectations of surgery outcomes for appearance-altering eye conditions

Conditions affecting the eyes can be associated with impaired vision, social functioning and reduced quality of life. Unsurprisingly, patients with these problems often seek surgery to improve their vision and change their appearance. Elizabeth Jenkinson and Sadie Wickwar consider research suggesting that patients may have differing expectations of outcomes that can be achieved with surgical interventions

Is the Birthing Unit Design Spatial Evaluation Tool valid for diverse groups?

© 2018 Australian College of Midwives Background: Awareness of the impact of the built environment on health care outcomes and experiences has led to efforts to redesign birthing environments. The Birth Unit Design Spatial Evaluation Tool was developed to inform such improvements, but it has only been validated with caseload midwives and women birthing in caseload models of care. Aim: To assess the content validity of the tool with four new participant groups: Birth unit midwives, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women; women who had anticipated a vaginal birth after a caesarean; and women from refugee or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Methods: Participants completed a Likert-scale survey to rate the relevance of The Birth Unit Design Spatial Evaluation Tool's 69 items. Item-level content validity and Survey-level validity indices were calculated, with the achievement of validity set at >0.78 and >0.9 respectively. Results: Item-level content validity was achieved on 37 items for birth unit midwives (n = 10); 35 items for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women (n = 6); 33 items for women who had anticipated a vaginal birth after a caesarean (n = 6); and 28 items for women from refugee or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (n = 20). Survey-level content validity was not demonstrated in any group. Conclusion: Birth environment design remains significant to women and midwives, but the Birth Unit Design Spatial Evaluation Tool was not validated for these participant groups. Further research is needed, using innovative methodologies to address the subconscious level on which environment may influence experience and to disentangle the influence of confounding factors

'HeART of Stroke (HoS)', a community-based Arts for Health group intervention to support self-confidence and psychological well-being following a stroke: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study

Introduction Over 152 000 people in the UK have strokes annually and a third experience residual disability. Low mood also affects a third of stroke survivors; yet psychological support is poor. While Arts for Health interventions have been shown to improve well-being in people with mild-to-moderate depression post-stroke, their role in helping people regain sense of self, well-being and confidence has yet to be evaluated. The main aim of this study is to explore the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an Arts for Health group intervention (‘HeART of Stroke’ (HoS)) for stroke survivors. HoS is a 10-session artist-facilitated group intervention held in the community over 14 weeks. It offers a non-judgemental, supportive environment for people to explore sense of self, potentially enhancing well-being and confidence. Methods and analysis Sixty-four people, up to 2 years post-stroke, recruited via secondary care research staff or community stroke/rehabilitation teams in two UK centres will be randomised to either HoS plus usual care or usual care only. Self-reported outcomes, measured at baseline and approximately 5 months postrandomisation, will include stroke-related, well-being, mood, self-esteem, quality of life and process measures. Analyses will focus on estimating key feasibility parameters (eg, rates of recruitment, retention, intervention attendance). We will develop outcome and resource use data collection methods to inform an effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis in the future trial. Interviews, with a sample of participants, will explore the acceptability of the intervention and study processes, as well as experiences of the HoS group. Ethics and dissemination National Health Service (NHS), Research and Development and University ethical approvals have been obtained. Two peer-reviewed journal publications are planned plus one service user led publication. Findings will be disseminated at key national conferences, local stakeholder events and via institutional websites.This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme (Grant Reference Number PB-PG-0212-27054)

Investigation of genetic alterations in paediatric patients with T-cell lymphoblastic leukaemia

Approximately 25% of paediatric patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) develop recurrent disease and post-relapse prognosis remains poor. Identification of molecular prognostic markers at diagnosis is needed so that earlier intervention with more intensive therapy can be targeted at those at the greatest risk of relapse, and dose reduction considered for those at a lower risk. Denaturing HPLC (dHPLC) was used to screen selected regions of the NOTCH1 and FBXW7 genes in samples from 162 paediatric T-ALL patients. Overall, 101 (62%) had NOTCH1 mutations (NOTCH MUT) and 29 (18%) were FBXW7MUT. The cohort was divided into three genotype groups for analysis: wild-type (WT) for both genes (NOTCH1WTFBXW7WT), a single NOTCH1 mutation (NOTCH1SingleFBXW7WT), and either NOTCH1DoubleFBXW7WT or NOTCH1MUTFBXW7MUT (NOTCH1±FBXW7Double). Patients with NOTCH1±FBXW7Double mutations were significantly associated with negative minimal residual disease (P=.01) and an excellent overall survival (P=.005), and should not be considered for more intensive therapy in first remission. PTEN mutation status was determined by dHPLC and the mutant level quantified by fragment analysis. Overall, 21 (13%) were PTEN MUT and median mutant level was 48% (range 10%-96%). Loss of genomic PTEN was investigated by quantification of two SNP loci in 76 informative patients and Illumina SNP array analysis in 139 patients with sufficient DNA. Of 145 patients, 15 (10%) had PTEN deletions, and combining the mutation and deletion status, 32 (22%) harboured a PTEN abnormality. PTEN genotype was not a significant prognostic indicator of response to therapy or clinical outcome; therefore it is not warranted for use in risk-adapted therapy at the present time. PTEN genotype had no impact on the favourable outcome of the patients with NOTCH1±FBXW7Double mutations; nor did it further stratify the NOTCH1SingleFBXW7WT or NOTCH1WTFBXW7WT groups. This work provides insight into the biology of NOTCH1, FBXW7 and PTEN mutations and their use as clinical markers

NMR shim coil design utilising a rapid spherical harmonic calculation method

A rapid spherical harmonic calculation method is used for the design of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance shim coils. The aim is to design each shim such that it generates a field described purely by a single spherical harmonic. By applying simulated annealing techniques, coil arrangements are produced through the optimal positioning of current-carrying circular arc conductors of rectangular cross-section. This involves minimizing the undesirable harmonies in relation to a target harmonic. The design method is flexible enough to be applied for the production of coil arrangements that generate fields consisting significantly of either zonal or tesseral harmonics. Results are presented for several coil designs which generate tesseral harmonics of degree one