26199 research outputs found
Sort by
A Radio Frequency Interference Survey of Alston Observatory for Small Radio Telescopes
Get PDFAlston Observatory currently only has optical telescopes, however there is a potential for a Small Radio Telescope (SRT) for the site as a teaching aid. An investigation into the Radio Environment of the site found that around the bandwidth a telescope would observe at (1420 MHz) the noise floor is acceptable for a radio telescope being observed at -195 dBW{m2{Hz, which should be able to view objects around the same brightness as M31 in the 21cm line with a minimum 2.4m dish on the site. A few peaks of potential interference were found at 1419.649 MHz, 1420.609 MHz, and 1421.569 MHz that were consistent across the site and also in a comparison reading done in Preston, the nearby city. Although no confirmed source was found, the fact that the peaks did not change over the site and were also present in Preston indicate they may be from the survey setup, which requires further investigation. There was also interference near the main building on the site, the Planetarium, as expected, leading to a suggestion of the placement of the telescope to be on top of the Planetarium building, where RFI from the building would not be able to enter the dish, and where shielding can be placed below the telescope to minimise any interference regardless. It was also found that the current Moses Holden Telescope would not cause interference in the 1420 MHz band, meaning that both telescopes could be used concurrently if needed. A potential issue going forward however is that these results may over the next few years, with the increasing amount of satellite constellations, which could make the site unusable for radio observations at certain bands
Prebiotics for induction and maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis
Get PDFBackground
People affected by ulcerative colitis (UC) are interested in dietary therapies as treatments that can improve their health and quality of life. Prebiotics are a category of food ingredients theorised to have health benefits for the gastrointestinal system through their effect on the growth and activity of intestinal bacteria and probiotics.
Objectives
To assess the efficacy and safety of prebiotics for the induction and maintenance of remission in people with active UC.
Search methods
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO ICTRP on 24 June 2023.
Selection criteria
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on people with UC. We considered any type of standalone or combination prebiotic intervention, except those prebiotics combined with probiotics (known as synbiotics), compared to any control intervention. We considered interventions of any dose and duration.
Data collection and analysis
We followed standard Cochrane methodology.
Main results
We included 9 RCTs involving a total of 445 participants. Study duration ranged from 14 days to 2 to 3 months for induction and 1 to 6 months for maintenance of remission. All studies were on adults. Five studies were on people with mild to moderate active disease, three in remission or mild activity, and one did not mention.
We judged only one study as at low risk of bias in all areas.
Two studies compared prebiotics with placebo for induction of remission. We cannot draw any conclusions about clinical remission (70% versus 67%; risk ratio (RR) 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57 to 1.94); clinical improvement (mean Rachmilewitz score on day 14 of 4.1 versus 4.5; mean difference (MD) −0.40, 95% CI −2.67 to 1.87); faecal calprotectin levels (mean faecal calprotectin on day 14 of 1211 μg/mL versus 3740 μg/mL; MD −2529.00, 95% CI −6925.38 to 1867.38); interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) levels (mean IL‐8 on day 7 of 2.9 pg/mL versus 5.0 pg/mL; MD −2.10, 95% CI −4.93 to 0.73); prostaglandin E2 (PGE‐2) levels (mean PGE‐2 on day 7 of 7.1 ng/mL versus 11.5 ng/mL; MD −4.40, 95% CI −20.25 to 11.45); or withdrawals due to adverse events (21% versus 8%; RR 2.73, 95% CI 0.51 to 14.55). All evidence was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
Two studies compared inulin and oligofructose 15 g with inulin and oligofructose 7.5 g for induction of remission. We cannot draw any conclusions about clinical remission (53% versus 12.5%; RR 4.27, 95% CI 1.07 to 16.96); clinical improvement (67% versus 25%; RR 2.67, 95% CI 1.06 to 6.70); total adverse events (53.5% versus 31%; RR 1.71, 95% CI 0.72 to 4.06); or withdrawals due to adverse events (13% versus 25%; RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.11 to 2.50). All evidence was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
One study compared prebiotics and anti‐inflammatory therapy with anti‐inflammatory therapy alone for induction of remission. We cannot draw any conclusions about clinical improvement (mean Lichtiger score at 4 weeks of 6.2 versus 10.3; MD −4.10, 95% CI −8.14 to −0.06) or serum C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels (mean CRP levels at 4 weeks 0.55 ng/mL versus 0.50 ng/mL; MD 0.05, 95% CI −0.37 to 0.47). All evidence was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
Three studies compared prebiotics with placebo for maintenance of remission. There may be no difference between groups in rate of clinical relapse (44% versus 33%; RR 1.36, 95% CI 0.79 to 2.31), and prebiotics may lead to more total adverse events than placebo (77% versus 46%; RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.40). The evidence was of low certainty. We cannot draw any conclusions about clinical improvement (mean partial Mayo score at day 60 of 0.428 versus 1.625; MD −1.20, 95% CI −2.17 to −0.22); faecal calprotectin levels (mean faecal calprotectin level at day 60 of 214 μg/mL versus 304 μg/mL; MD −89.79, 95% CI −221.30 to 41.72); quality of life (mean Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) score at day 60 of 193.5 versus 188.0; MD 5.50, 95% CI −8.94 to 19.94); or withdrawals due to adverse events (28.5% versus 11%; RR 2.57, 95% CI 1.15 to 5.73). The evidence for these outcomes was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
One study compared prebiotics with synbiotics for maintenance of remission. We cannot draw any conclusions about quality of life (mean IBDQ score at 4 weeks 182.4 versus 176.1; MD 6.30, 95% CI −6.61 to 19.21) or withdrawals due to adverse events (23% versus 20%; RR 1.13, 95% CI 0.48 to 2.62). All evidence was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
One study compared prebiotics with probiotics for maintenance of remission. We cannot draw any conclusions about quality of life (mean IBDQ score at 4 weeks 182.4 versus 168.6; MD 13.60, 95% CI 1.22 to 25.98) or withdrawals due to adverse events (22.5% versus 22.5%; RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.44 to 2.26). All evidence was of very low certainty. No other outcomes were reported.
Authors' conclusions
There may be no difference in occurrence of clinical relapse when adjuvant treatment with prebiotics is compared with adjuvant treatment with placebo for maintenance of remission in UC. Adjuvant treatment with prebiotics may result in more total adverse events when compared to adjuvant treatment with placebo for maintenance of remission. We could draw no conclusions for any of the other outcomes in this comparison due to the very low certainty of the evidence. The evidence for all other comparisons and outcomes was also of very low certainty, precluding any conclusions.
It is difficult to make any clear recommendations for future research based on the findings of this review given the clinical and methodological heterogeneity among studies. It is recommended that a consensus is reached on these issues prior to any further research
P756 Efficacy and safety of medical therapies for maintenance of surgically induced remission in Crohn’s disease: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
No full textBackground
Approximately half of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) undergo surgical resection in first decade after diagnosis. Majority experience disease recurrence following surgery requiring further intervention. There is limited evidence on efficacy of medical therapies in this setting. We performed a network meta-analysis to evaluate comparative efficacies of medical therapies for the prevention of clinical and endoscopic relapse after surgical resection.
Methods
We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials between inception and October 2023 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Outcomes assessed were clinical relapse, endoscopic relapse, and safety outcomes including adverse events (AE), withdrawal due to AE, and serious AE. We performed random-effects network meta- analysis using a frequentist approach, and estimated relative risk (RRs), 95% CI values and used GRADE to ascertain certainty of evidence.
Results
A total of 37 RCTs comprising 4411 patients were included. On network meta-analysis of clinical relapse outcome, there was moderate certainty of evidence favouring adalimumab (RR 0.14, 95% CI [0.03-0.7]) over placebo with number needed to treat (NNT) of 3. There was low certainty of evidence supporting 5-amainosalycilates (RR 0.81, 95% CI [0.71-0.92]; NNT of 13) and purine analogues (RR 0.82, 95% CI [0.72-0.93]; NNT of 14) but the effect size was trivial (Figure 1). Whereas for endoscopic relapse outcome, vedolizumab (RR 0.23, 95% CI [0.07-0.8]) and adalimumab (RR 0.32, 95% CI [0.17-0.62], low certainty) and infliximab (RR 0.63, 95% CI [0.48-0.82], low certainty) were the only agents superior to placebo but not purine analogues (RR 0.87, 95% CI [0.7-1.08], very low certainty), 5-ASA (RR 1.04, 95% CI [0.85-1.26], very low certainty), antibiotics (RR 1.13, 95% CI [0.83-1.53], very low certainty), probiotics (RR 1.15, 95% CI [0.94-1.39], very low certainty), vitamin-D (RR 0.9, 95% CI [0.62-1.31], very low certainty) and curcumin (RR 1.17, 95% CI [0.73-1.87], low certainty). On analysis of total adverse events outcomes, all therapies were safe.
Conclusion
On network meta-analysis, adalimumab had a large magnitude of effect size for preventing clinical and endoscopic relapse (low certainty), vedolizumab a large magnitude for preventing endoscopic relapse (low certainty) and 5-ASA a small magnitude result for preventing clinical relapse (low certainty). Overall certainty of evidence is very low to low suggesting need for further research in this field
Understanding the barriers and facilitators of Digital Health Technology (DHT) implementation in neurological rehabilitation: An integrative systematic review
Get PDFBackground
Digital Health technologies (DHT) have potential to deliver intensive, novel and engaging rehabilitation for people with neurological conditions, yet health services lack a strong track record in embedding DHT into practice. The aim of this review was to synthesise factors that have been shown to influence implementation of DHT into neurological rehabilitation.
Method
An integrative review was undertaken. An extensive search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED, EMBASE was undertaken. The title and abstract of all retrieved sources were screened against pre-defined criteria. Retained sources underwent full text review. The quality of all included sources was assessed. A meta-ethnographic synthesis explored commonalities and contradictions of the included studies.
Results
Fourteen studies (one quantitative, eight qualitative and five mixed methods) were included. Eleven implementation theories/models/frameworks were used across the 14 studies. Five themes were identified: (i) individual factors; (ii) user experience of the technology; (iii) the content of the intervention; (iv) access to the technology and (v) supporting use.
Conclusions
Key factors which appear to influence the implementation of DHT into clinical settings are highlighted. Implementation theories, models and frameworks are under-utilised in DHT rehabilitation research. This needs to be addressed if DHT are to realise their potential in neurological rehabilitation.
Registration
The protocol was registered and is available from PROSPERO (CRD42021268984)
‘Haunted Happenings and the Urban Supernatural’: Dark Events and Placemaking in Salem, USA
Get PDFThe Salem Witch Trials of 1692 not only became a turning point of American history, but witchery became entrenched in the placemaking of Salem’s urban supernatural. As such, Salem’s cultural trauma has become a desirable focus of the tourist gaze, specifically through its annual ‘Haunted Happenings’ event. Drawing upon conceptual underpinning of dark tourism, semiotics, collective memory, and social identity, as well as Foucault's ‘heterotopology’, we argue Salem is a place that is disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory, and even transforming. We argue Salem is where material realities and (re)imagined supernatural spaces collide to co-create a dark tourism place. Indeed, Salem is where we consume reflections and illusions, as well as engaging with atrocities and misdeeds of the problematic past. In turn, Salem and its supernatural placemaking exports its tragic history, which not only expresses difficult heritage but also ruptures the past to reclaim cultural and mercantile advantage. We advocate contemporary placemaking of Salem within realms of the urban supernatural and cultural trauma creates Salem into a Foucauldian heterotopia. It is here that Salem reflects the reality of our contemporary globalised community, where it is a world within a world, mirroring and yet upsetting what is outside
Changing-state Irrelevant Speech Disrupts Visual-Verbal but not Visual-Spatial Serial Recall
Get PDFIn an influential paper, Jones et al. (1995) provide evidence that auditory distraction by changing relative to repetitive auditory distracters (the changing-state effect) did not differ between a visual-verbal and visual-spatial serial recall task, providing evidence for an amodal mechanism for the representation of serial order in short-term memory that transcends modalities. This finding has been highly influential for theories of short-term memory and auditory distraction. However, evidence vis-à-vis the robustness of this result is sorely lacking. Here, two high-powered replications of Jones et al.’s (1995) crucial Experiment 4 were undertaken. In the first partial replication (n = 64), a fully within-participants design was adopted, wherein participants undertook both the visual-verbal and visual-spatial serial recall tasks under different irrelevant sound conditions, without a retention period. The second near-identical replication (n = 128), incorporated a retention period and implemented the task-modality manipulation as a between-participants factor, as per the original Jones et al. (1995; Experiment 4) study. In both experiments, the changing-state effect was observed for visual-verbal serial recall but not for visual-spatial serial recall. The results are consistent with modular and interference-based accounts of distraction and challenge some aspects of functional equivalence accounts
The effect of firm-level factors on sustainable supply chain management practices and performance outcomes in the oil and gas industry
Get PDFThe concept of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has gained increasing attention in both practice and theory in the last two decades thus, stimulating serious academic discourse, especially on its implementation as a way of minimizing the negative effects of industrial activities on the environment. Although SSCM practices have been implemented by oil and gas companies
during this period, it is unclear whether these initiatives are undertaken because they are profitable or due to the regulations compelling them. Several new debates have opened in recent times regarding whether the implementation of sustainability practices really pays, and therefore the performance outcomes of SSCM remain open to question. Similarly, earlier research on sustainability practices in the oil and gas industry has paid less attention to firm-level factors that either promote or hamper development towards achieving a sustainable supply chain.
This study investigates the effect of organisational factors (corporate culture, organisational size, and quality of management) on SSCM implementation in the oil and gas supply chain. Secondly, the study investigates whether the implementation of sustainability practices contributes to organisational performance. Thirdly, the study investigates the extent to which firm-level factors
affect the performance outcomes of SSCM. In doing so, a questionnaire survey of 192 oil and gas corporations was conducted, and the collected data was analysed using correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and structural equation modelling technique. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of extant literature on SSCM in various industrial contexts was carried out.
The main findings from this study reveal that the implementation of SSCM practices is driven by corporate culture, organisational size, and quality of management. It was also observed that strong corporate culture and quality of management are positively related to firm performance. Notably, the most important contribution of this study relates to the finding of a significant positive
association between SSCM adoption and business performance, which clears the ambiguities about the consequences of SSCM implementation. Lastly, the result from this study highlights the significance of corporate culture and quality of management in determining how SSCM is implemented within firms and the derivable benefits, which helps explain the differences in performance outcomes attained by companies implementing the same
The effect of a home-based exercise program on gait characteristics in an individual with Parkinson’s disease over a one-year period: A case study
Get PDFBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a restriction on physiotherapy clinical visits for supervised exercise. It is important that individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) continue an exercise regime at home during the pandemic and also in normal situations.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the case history of an individual with PD who used a developed home-based exercise programme for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A 67 year-old married woman was diagnosed with PD stage 2.5 on the modified Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale. Gait characteristics and the Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) motor scores were assessed at baseline, 10 weeks, and 12 months. The home-based exercise program included breathing exercises, posture correction, stretching exercises, rotation of the axial segments, balance training, and task-specific gait training.
Results: After 12 months, her MDS-UPDRS motor scores decreased when compared to baseline and 10 weeks, and gait characteristics at 12 months showed an increase in the degree of foot rotation, step length, cadence, and gait speed when compared to baseline and 10 weeks.
Conclusion: This case study showed that improvements in MDS-UPDRS and gait characteristics can continue over a 12 month period as a result of a home-based exercise programme. Therefore, home-based exercise programs should be encouraged with weekly monitoring, especially in individuals with gait disorders which show deterioration