Static and Dynamic Magnetism in Underdoped Superconductor BaFe1.92_{1.92}Co0.08_{0.08}As2_2

We report neutron scattering measurements on single crystals of BaFe$_{1.92}$Co$_{0.08}$As$_2$. The magnetic Bragg peak intensity is reduced by 6 % upon cooling through T$_C$. The spin dynamics exhibit a gap of 8 meV with anisotropic three-dimensional (3d) interactions. Below T$_C$ additional intensity appears at an energy of $\sim$4.5(0.5) meV similar to previous observations of a spin resonance in other Fe-based superconductors. No further gapping of the spin excitations is observed below T$_C$ for energies down to 2 meV. These observations suggest the redistribution of spectral weight from the magnetic Bragg position to a spin resonance demonstrating the direct competition between static magnetic order and superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Midwives\u27 knowledge, attitudes and learning needs regarding antenatal vaccination

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and learning needs of midwives regarding antenatal vaccination. Design & Setting: A cross-sectional, paper-based survey of midwives employed at the only public tertiary maternity hospital in the Australian state of XX between November 2015 and July 2016. Participants: 252 midwives providing care in antepartum, intrapartum, and/or postpartum settings. Measurements: Self-reported responses to a 41-item survey. Findings: The vast majority of midwives supported influenza and pertussis vaccination for pregnant women, with 90.0% and 71.7% reporting they would recommend pertussis and influenza vaccine, respectively, to a pregnant friend or family member, and almost all stating that midwives should administer vaccines to pregnant patients (94.8%). Seven out of ten midwives (68.1%) responded correctly to all knowledge items regarding vaccines recommended during pregnancy; 52.8% demonstrated correct knowledge regarding vaccine administration despite only 36.6% having attended an education session on antenatal vaccination in the previous two years. Nearly all midwives (97.3%) expressed a need for more education on vaccine administration. The most commonly reported barrier to administering influenza (61.3%) and pertussis (59.0%) vaccination was having staff available with the certification required to administer vaccines. Key Conclusions: Midwives view antenatal vaccination as their responsibility and are interested and receptive to education. Implications for Practice: There is an unmet need and demand among midwives for professional development that would enable them to recommend and administer vaccines to pregnant women in accordance with national immunisation guidelines and integrate vaccination into routine antenatal care

Strabismus measurements with novel video goggles

PURPOSE: To assess the validity of a novel, simplified, noninvasive test for strabismus using video goggles. DESIGN: Cross-sectional method comparison study in which the new test, the strabismus video goggles, is compared with the existing reference standard, the Hess screen test. PARTICIPANTS: We studied 41 adult and child patients aged ≥6 years with ocular misalignment owing to congenital or acquired paralytic or comitant strabismus and 17 healthy volunteers. METHODS: All participants were tested with binocular infrared video goggles with built-in laser target projection and liquid crystal display shutters for alternate occlusion of the eyes and the conventional Hess screen test. In both tests, ocular deviations were measured on a 9-point target grid located at 0±15° horizontal and vertical eccentricity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Horizontal and vertical ocular deviations at 9 different gaze positions of each eye were measured by the strabismus video goggles and the Hess screen test. Agreement was quantified as the intraclass correlation coefficient. Secondary outcomes were the utility of the goggles in patients with visual suppression and in children. RESULTS: There was good agreement between the strabismus video goggles and the Hess screen test in the measurements of horizontal and vertical deviation (intraclass correlation coefficient horizontal 0.83, 95% confidence interval [0.77, 0.88], vertical 0.76, 95% confidence interval [0.68, 0.82]). Both methods reproduced the characteristic strabismus patterns in the 9-point grid. In contrast to Hess screen testing, strabismus video goggle measurements were even possible in patients with comitant strabismus and visual suppression. CONCLUSIONS The new device is simple and is fast and accurate in measuring ocular deviations, and the results are closely correlated with those obtained using the conventional Hess screen test. It can even be used in patients with visual suppression who are not suitable for the Hess screen test. The device can be applied in children as young as 6 years of age

Responders vs clinical response: a critical analysis of data from linaclotide phase 3 clinical trials in IBS-C

Background: US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a rigorous standard for defining patient responders in irritable bowel syndrome-C (IBS-C; i.e., FDA's Responder Endpoint) for regulatory approval. However, this endpoint's utility for health-care practitioners to assess clinical response has not been determined. We analyzed pooled IBS-C linaclotide trial data to evaluate clinically significant responses in linaclotide-treated patients who did not meet the FDA responder definition. Methods: Percentages of FDA non-responders reporting improvement in abdominal pain, bowel function and/or global relief measures were determined using pooled data from two linaclotide Phase 3 IBS-C trials. Key Results 1602 IBS-C patients enrolled; 34% of linaclotide-treated and 17% of placebo-treated patients met the FDA Responder Endpoint (p < 0.0001). Among FDA non-responders at week 12, 63% of linaclotide-treated patients reported their abdominal pain was at least somewhat relieved, compared with 48% of placebo-treated patients. For stool frequency, 62% of linaclotide-treated patients reported that they were at least somewhat improved at week 12, compared with 46% of placebo-treated patients. For global IBS symptoms, 65% of linaclotide-treated patients reported at least some IBS-symptom relief, 43% reported adequate relief of IBS symptoms, and 57% reported being satisfied with linaclotide treatment, vs placebo rates of 48%, 34%, and 41% respectively. Conclusions & Inferences Most linaclotide-treated IBS-C patients who were FDA non-responders reported some improvement in abdominal pain and stool frequency, and global relief/satisfaction. In addition to the FDA Responder Endpoint, differing response thresholds and symptom-specific change from baseline should be considered by clinicians for a complete understanding of clinical response to linaclotide and other IBS-C therapies

Computational modelling of emboli travel trajectories in cerebral arteries: Influence of microembolic particle size and density

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Ischaemic stroke is responsible for up to 80 % of stroke cases. Prevention of the reoccurrence of ischaemic attack or stroke for patients who survived the first symptoms is the major treatment target. Accurate diagnosis of the emboli source for a specific infarction lesion is very important for a better treatment for the patient. However, due to the complex blood flow patterns in the cerebral arterial network, little is known so far of the embolic particle flow trajectory and its behaviour in such a complex flow field. The present study aims to study the trajectories of embolic particles released from carotid arteries and basilar artery in a cerebral arterial network and the influence of particle size, mass and release location to the particle distributions, by computational modelling. The cerebral arterial network model, which includes major arteries in the circle of Willis and several generations of branches from them, was generated from MRI images. Particles with diameters of 200, 500 and 800 μ m and densities of 800, 1,030 and 1,300 kg/m 3 were released in the vessel's central and near-wall regions. A fully coupled scheme of particle and blood flow in a computational fluid dynamics software ANASYS CFX 13 was used in the simulations. The results show that heavy particles (density large than blood or a diameter larger than 500 μ m) normally have small travel speeds in arteries; larger or lighter embolic particles are more likely to travel to large branches in cerebral arteries. In certain cases, all large particles go to the middle cerebral arteries; large particles with higher travel speeds in large arteries are likely to travel at more complex and tortuous trajectories; emboli raised from the basilar artery will only exit the model from branches of basilar artery and posterior cerebral arteries. A modified Circle of Willis configuration can have significant influence on particle distributions. The local branch patterns of internal carotid artery to middle cerebral artery and anterior communicating artery can have large impact on such distributions. © 2014 The Author(s)

Including debris cover effects in a distributed model of glacier ablation

Distributed glacier melt models generally assume that the glacier surface consists of bare exposed ice and snow. In reality, many glaciers are wholly or partially covered in layers of debris that tend to suppress ablation rates. In this paper, an existing physically based point model for the ablation of debris-covered ice is incorporated in a distributed melt model and applied to Haut Glacier d’Arolla, Switzerland, which has three large patches of debris cover on its surface. The model is based on a 10 m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the area; each glacier pixel in the DEM is defined as either bare or debris-covered ice, and may be covered in snow that must be melted off before ice ablation is assumed to occur. Each debris-covered pixel is assigned a debris thickness value using probability distributions based on over 1000 manual thickness measurements. Locally observed meteorological data are used to run energy balance calculations in every pixel, using an approach suitable for snow, bare ice or debris-covered ice as appropriate. The use of the debris model significantly reduces the total ablation in the debris-covered areas, however the precise reduction is sensitive to the temperature extrapolation used in the model distribution because air near the debris surface tends to be slightly warmer than over bare ice. Overall results suggest that the debris patches, which cover 10% of the glacierized area, reduce total runoff from the glacierized part of the basin by up to 7%