Patients\u27 Involvement in Reducing Medical Errors

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Potential and historical Uses for bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn) in organic agriculture

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Bracken is considered a serious weed species, due to its toxic constituents and negative impacts on agriculture and conservation. Historically however, this fern was a highly prized commodity due to the many uses for cut fronds. Cutting bracken is one of the few bracken management options open to organic farmers. Many traditional uses for the material resulting from harvesting material may have potential in modern organic agriculture, putting a modern value on the plant for its sustainable use or its eradication. This poster reviews some traditional and potential uses within agriculture, investigated as part of a MPhil research project. These uses for bracken include; use as a source of fertility from raw material and ash, weed control for vegetable crops, animal bedding, cover mulch, insect repellent, seed treatment, anti-fungal agent, and biofuel

Two proton knockout from carbon using linearly polarised photons

The ^(12)C([gamma],pp) reaction has been studied in the photon energy range E_=200-450MeV at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The linearly polarised photon beam was produced via the coherent bremsstrahlung technique with a diamond radiator and tagged with the Glasgow Tagging Spectrometer. The beam was incident on a ^(12)C target and the reaction products were detected in the 4pi Crystal Ball detector. The experimental study examines the photon asymmetry Sigma over a wider photon energy range than previous measurements and presents the first measurement of the angular dependence of Sigma. The photon asymmetry has a negative magnitude for missing energies Em 300MeV, Sigma has a substantially negative value which is attributed to two-step reactions following initial quasifree pion production

Chemical applications of escience to interfacial spectroscopy

This report is a summary of works carried out by the author between October 2003 and September 2004, in the first year of his PhD studie

Examining Body Mass Index and Sepsis Mortality at One Year After Sepsis

Introduction: Sepsis is a serious and life-threatening syndrome affecting 1.7 million Americans annually and resulting in approximately 270,000 deaths. An “obesity paradox” where obese individuals have lower sepsis mortality than their non-obese counterparts has been described. The problem is that the longevity of the effect is unknown, and few studies have examined the obesity paradox after 1-2 months post-diagnosis. Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined clinical, demographic, and biomarker variables thought to affect sepsis mortality at three-time points: 30 days, 180 days, and at one year post-sepsis diagnosis in order to shed light on specific factors that might define a “sepsis survivor” phenotype. A convenience sample of adults age 18 and older admitted to an academic medical center between the years of 2007 to 2018 with a diagnosis of sepsis was identified. Simple logistic regression was used to test for significance between age, sex, race, c-reactive protein, lactate, white blood cells, body mass index, and sepsis severity on mortality at each of the three previously described time points. Variables with statistical and clinical significance were entered into multivariate logistic regression models to explore the contributions of each variable and interactions between variables at 30 days, 180 days, and one year after sepsis diagnosis. Results: We found for every 5 unit increase in BMI, the odds of mortality were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.99) times lower at 30 days since sepsis diagnosis. However, at 180-day and one-year post sepsis diagnosis, as BMI increased, there was an increase in odds of death for each sepsis type. Discussion: In this dataset, it appears that the obesity paradox exists up to 30 days, but the protective effect of obesity on sepsis outcomes may not extend beyond one month. Future studies that control for comorbidities and other potential covariates, and that can test for the contributions of novel biomarkers on sepsis outcomes are needed

THE BENTHIC ECOLOGY OF MARINE AGGREGATE DEPOSITS

Macrobenthic assemblages and sedimentary conditions of five areas were described and compared; the role of abiotic factors in shaping benthic distributions was also examined. Two of the study sites were actively dredged at the time of sample collection and the effects of this aggregate extraction were investigated. It was concluded that trailer dredging (at the level intensity employed at these sites) was not associated with any significant disruption to benthic community structure, despite the differences in abiotic and biotic characteristics of the two dredged areas. A meta-analysis of findings from published dredging impact studies revealed a differential response to dredging that was related to habitat type. Full recovery of the benthos following the cessation of dredging was not observed in any of the habitat types suggesting that dredging is associated with a long-term alteration of macrobenthic resources.Marine Ecological Surveys Limited and the Plymouth Marine Laborator

Prejudice in Venus Traces the Roots of Black Female Iconography

This paper aims to verify how a ‘freak’ show performer named The Venus Hottentot of the early 1800’s in England and in France, came to symbolize the sexualized view of the black female icon today. My thesis production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ play Venus will demonstrate how Eurocentric prejudice in the colonial era shaped the historical facts that permeated around this South African woman’s life and death. In keeping with the play’s revised Afrocentric perspective on these alleged facts, ideas about directorial concepts for this show will validate how this play is relevant to contemporary artists and audiences through Parks’ elegant storytelling. This potential narrative of victimization, that could easily come off as maudlin, will be proven to require a sardonic political edge in order to succeed. The director’s challenges and premise, the writer’s background, the play’s roots in truth and fiction, along with production hurdles to overcome will all be discussed

The Intersection of Obesity and Sepsis: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Sepsis and obesity are each global health concerns with high morbidity and mortality rates. When taken together one might expect a perfect storm in which patient outcomes are exponentially worse than with either diagnosis individually. However, in the “obesity paradox” obese individuals with sepsis survive at higher rates than non-obese individuals. Adipose tissue is an active immune and endocrine organ, when present in excess it provides a protective effect due to alterations in the host response to inflammation. Given that the newest sepsis guidelines indicate that a dysregulated host response is responsible for organ failure and death in sepsis it is important to understand the protective effect of adipose tissue in order to leverage its benefits for the larger population. This systematic integrative review of the literature will summarize the current state of the science and synthesize findings to describe future directions for research. The pathophysiology behind the “obesity paradox” will be described along with theoretical implications for future studies