45 research outputs found
Expanding the methodological repertoire of participatory research into homelessness : the utility of the mobile phone diary
No full textParticipatory research methodologies have expanded the opportunities for critical, emancipatory and democratic health and social work research. However, their practical application in research with vulnerable participants has historically been challenging due to ethical, practical and theoretical concerns. Individuals who are homeless are typically seen as ‘hard-to-reach’, transient, ‘hidden’ and even chaotic participant populations. Unsurprisingly, examples of the use of innovative participatory research techniques with those groups have been relatively scarce. This paper aimed to address this gap by discussing the application of one such technique – the mobile phone diary in research with multiply disadvantaged homeless adults. Diary methods are situated within the qualitative research on health, illness and social marginality, and the enhanced capabilities of the mobile phone diary are highlighted. The author illustrates the application of the mobile phone diary in his participatory research on the everyday life narratives of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) who were homeless. The process of designing the mobile phone diary is detailed. Following this, participant testimonies of their use of the mobile phone diary are presented. They demonstrate the participatory and inclusive nature, as well as the cathartic and empowering potential, of this technique. The methodological contributions and challenges and the theoretical generativity of the mobile phone diary method are discussed. The mobile phone diary is a feasible approach for eliciting evocative, contextualised and nuanced accounts of the lived experience of homelessness, social isolation, coping and recovery
A randomized, placebo-controlled study of vernakalant (oral) for the prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence after cardioversion
No full textVernakalant, a relatively atrial-selective antiarrhythmic drug, has previously demonstrated efficacy for the acute conversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) to sinus rhythm. This study was designed to determine the most appropriate oral dose of vernakalant for the prevention of AF recurrence postcardioversion
Development of miniature all-solid-state potentiometric sensing system
No full textA procedure for the development of a pen-like, multi-electrode potentiometric sensing platform is described. The platform comprises a seven-in-one electrode incorporating all-solid-state ion-selective and reference electrodes based on the conductive polymer (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)) as an intermediate layer between the contacts and ion-selective membranes. The ion-selective electrodes are based on traditional, ionophore-based membranes, while the reference electrode is based on a polymer membrane doped with the lipophilic salt tetrabutyl ammonium tetrabutyl borate (TBA-TBB). The electrodes, controlled with a multichannel detector system, were used for simultaneous determination of the concentration of Pb2+ and pH in environmental water samples. The results obtained using pH-selective electrodes were compared with data obtained using a conventional pH meter and the average percent difference was 0.3%. Furthermore, the sensing system was successfully used for lead-speciation analysis in environmental water samples
Analysis techniques for femtoscopy and correlation studies in small collision systems and their applications to the investigation of p–Λ and Λ–Λ interactions with ALICE
No full textFemtoscopy is a technique relating the correlations between pairs of particles to their emission source and interaction potential. Traditionally femtoscopy is used to study the properties of the emission source, mostly by using charged pion correlations, for which the correlation function is determined only by the Bose-Einstein statistics and Coulomb interaction. The topic of this work is the non-traditional baryon–baryon femtoscopy, the goal of which is to study the interaction potential between different baryon pairs, assuming the emission source is fixed. Such an approach is quite challenging as it requires an exact treatment of the strong potential in order to compute the correlation function, as well as knowledge on the profile and size of the emission source. In the work presented here, a new “Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schrödinger equation” (CATS) has been developed to tackle the issue related to the modeling of the correla- tion function. In previous works it was proposed that in small collision systems the source is approximately the same for all baryon–baryon pairs and this feature leads to the opportunity of using the p–p correlations to fix the source, allowing to study the interaction of other pairs. However, the limits of validity of this method were never quantitatively studied. In particular, the decays of short-lived resonances are expected to influence the emission source differently based on the particle species involved. In this work a new model was developed to handle this effect, making possible to perform non-traditional femtoscopy with much higher precision. This new analysis techniques and method developed were used by the ALICE col- laboration to study a multitude of different baryon–baryon systems, including p–Λ, p–Σ^0 , p–Ξ − , Λ–Λ, p–Ω^− and has even been applied to the meson sector to study the p–K^− interaction. Aside the development of CATS and the new source model, the author was the main analyzer of the p–Λ and Λ–Λ systems, therefore these results will be discussed in detail. In particular, the study of p–Λ has an important link to the equation of state of nuclear matter and the existence of massive neutron stars. In this work the chiral effective field theory computations are verified against the p–Λ data collected by the ALICE collaboration. The Λ–Λ system is of great theo- retical interest, as some models predict the existence of a bound state, the so called H-dibaryon, which could be composed of two Λs. The current work provides fur- ther experimental constraints on the Λ–Λ scattering parameters and binding energy of the hypothetical bound state
New cost-effective pleural procedure training: Manikin-based model to increase the confidence and competency in trainee medical officers
No full textPurpose of the study: Pleural diseases are common in clinical practice. Doctors in training often encounter these patients and are expected to perform diagnostic and therapeutic pleural procedures with confidence and safely. However, pleural procedures can be associated with significant complications, especially when performed by less experienced. Structured training such as use of training manikin and procedural skills workshop may help trainee doctors to achieve competence. However, high costs involved in acquiring simulation technology or attending a workshop may be a hurdle. We hereby describe a training model using a simple manikin developed in our institution and provide an effective way to document skill acquisition and assessment among trainee medical officers. Study design: This was a prospective observational study. The need for training, competence and confidence of trainees in performing pleural procedures was assessed through an online survey. Trainees underwent structured simulation training through a simple manikin developed at our institute. Follow-up survey after the training was then performed to access confidence and competence in performing pleural procedures. Results: Forty-seven trainees responded to an online survey and 91% of those expressed that they would like further training in pleural procedure skills. 81% and 85% of responders, respectively, indicated preferred method of training is either practising on manikin or performing the procedure under supervision. Follow-up survey showed improvement in the confidence and competence. Conclusion: Our pleural procedure training manikin model is a reliable, novel and cost-effective method for acquiring competences in pleural procedures.</p
Model of strategy games based on the paradigm of the iterated prisoner s dilemma employing fuzzy sets
No full textThe corona-virus disease 2019 pandemic compromised routine care for hypertension: a survey conducted among excellence centers of the European Society of Hypertension
No full textBackground: The Covid-19 pandemic caused a shutdown of healthcare systems in many countries. We explored the impact on hypertension care in the Excellence Center (EC) network of the European Society of Hypertension. Methods: We conducted a 17-question electronic survey among ECs. Results: Overall, 52 ECs from 20 European and three non-European countries participated, providing hypertension service for a median of 1500 hypertensive patients per center per year. Eighty-five percent of the ECs reported a shutdown lasting for 9 weeks (range 0- 16). The number of patients treated per week decreased by 90%: From a median of 50 (range 10-400) before the pandemic to a median of 5.0 (range 0-150) during the pandemic (P < 0.0001). 60% of patients (range 0- 100%) declared limited access to medical consultations. The majority of ECs (57%) could not provide 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring, whereas a median of 63% (range 0-100%) of the patients were regularly performing home BP monitoring. In the majority (75%) of the ECs, hypertension service returned to normal after the first wave of the pandemic. In 66% of the ECs, the physicians received many questions regarding the use of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers. Stopping RAS-blocker therapy (in a few patients) either by patients or physicians was reported in 27 and 36.5% of the ECs. Conclusion: Patient care in hypertension ECs was compromised during the Covid-19-related shutdown. These data highlight the necessity to develop new strategies for hypertension care including virtual clinics to maintain services during challenging times
Mean-field study of single-particle spectra evolution in Z=14 and N=28 chains
No full textSubmited in PRC. 6 pages, 4 figures, 2 tablesWe study the mechanisms which reduce the proton 1d(3/2)-1d(5/2) spin-orbit splitting and the neutron 1f(7/2) subshell closure in 42Si. We use various self-consistent mean field models: non-relativistic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock and relativistic density-dependent Hartree-Fock. Special attention is devoted to the influence of a tensor component in the effective interaction. It is found that the tensor force indeed governs the reduction of the 1d proton spin-orbit splitting. On the other hand, the reduction of the neutron 1f(7/2) subshell closure is not clearly related to the tensor force
Design and rationale of the URGENT Dyspnea study: an international, multicenter, prospective study.
No full textBACKGROUND: Dyspnea is a key target in both clinical management and clinical trials of acute heart failure syndromes and its relief important to patients, clinicians, investigators, and regulatory approval agencies. Despite its importance, the impact of early therapy on dyspnea is not well known. The severity of dyspnea may also be influenced by the conditions under which it is measured (ie, sitting up or lying down). URGENT Dyspnea (Ularitide Global Evaluation in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure) is a prospective multicenter study designed to address these issues.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Consenting adult patients with dyspnea secondary to acute heart failure syndromes are eligible. Patients must be interviewed within one hour of first physician evaluation, typically in an emergency department or acute care setting, with dyspnea assessed by the patient using both a 5-point Likert scale and 10-point visual analog scale in the sitting (60 degrees) and then supine (20 degrees ) position if symptomatically able. Improvement of dyspnea by change in Likert and visual analog scale scores at 6 h is the primary endpoint.
CONCLUSIONS: Timing of dyspnea measurement and the conditions under which it is measured may influence dyspnea severity and this may have significant implications for future acute heart failure syndromes clinical trial design that target dyspnea
Anticoagulant therapy and outcomes in patients with prior or acute heart failure and acute coronary syndromes: Insights from the APixaban for PRevention of Acute ISchemic Events 2 trial
No full textBackground Clinical outcomes and the effects of oral anticoagulants among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and either a history of or acute heart failure (HF) are largely unknown. We aimed to assess the relationship between prior HF or acute HF complicating an index ACS event and subsequent clinical outcomes and the efficacy and safety of apixaban compared with placebo in these populations. Methods High-risk patients were randomly assigned post-ACS to apixaban 5.0 mg or placebo twice daily. Median follow-up was 8 (4-12) months. The primary outcome was cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. The main safety outcome was thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major bleeding. Results Heart failure was reported in 2,995 patients (41%), either as prior HF (2,076 [28%]) or acute HF (2,028 [27%]). Patients with HF had a very high baseline risk and were more often managed medically. Heart failure was associated with a higher rate of the primary outcome (prior HF: adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.73, 95% CI 1.42-2.10, P < .0001, acute HF: adjusted HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.35-2.01, P < .0001) and cardiovascular death (prior HF: HR 2.54, 95% CI 1.82-3.54, acute HF: adjusted HR 2.52, 95% CI 1.82-3.50). Patients with acute HF also had significantly higher rates of thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major bleeding (prior HF: adjusted HR 1.22, 95% CI 0.65-2.27, P = .54, acute HF: adjusted HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.03-3.08, P = .04). There was no statistical evidence of a differential effect of apixaban on clinical events or bleeding in patients with or without prior HF; however, among patients with acute HF, there were numerically fewer events with apixaban than placebo (14.8 vs 19.3, HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.57-1.01, interaction P = .13), a trend that was not seen in patients with prior HF or no HF. Conclusions In high-risk patients post-ACS, both prior and acute HFs are associated with an increased risk of subsequent clinical events. Apixaban did not significantly reduce clinical events and increased bleeding in patients with and without HF; however, there was a tendency toward fewer clinical events with apixaban in patients with acute HF.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000351949500016&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Cardiac & Cardiovascular SystemsSCI(E)[email protected]
