Working out of the ‘toolbox’: an exploratory study with complementary therapists in acute cancer care

Aims: The aim of this research was to explore and capture therapists’ experiences of and preparation for working with patients in an acute cancer care setting. Method: Semi structured interviews with therapists (n=18) in an acute cancer hospital in the North West of England. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic coding. Results: Key themes identified included; the need for a ‘tool box’ that goes beyond initial training, building confidence with adapting these new skills in practice, helping patients to become empowered, the need to support carers, research evidence and resources issues, and the role of supervision. Conclusion: This study was limited by being set in a single acute cancer site. Therapists valued having a ‘tool box’ but needed confidence and support to navigate the challenges of clinical practice.The authors would like to acknowledge the support of ‘Walk the Walk’ Charity, who help fund the complementary therapy services in the Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Departments

Fixed-Point Posets in Theories of Truth

We show that any coherent complete partial order is obtainable as the fixed-point poset of the strong Kleene jump of a suitably chosen first-order ground model. This is a strengthening of Visser’s result that any finite ccpo is obtainable in this way. The same is true for the van Fraassen supervaluation jump, but not for the weak Kleene jump

He abundances in disc galaxies. I. Predictions from cosmological chemodynamical simulations

Accepted for publication in A&AWe investigate how the stellar and gas-phase He abundances evolve as a function of time within simulated star-forming disc galaxies with different star formation histories. We make use of a cosmological chemodynamical simulation for galaxy formation and evolution, which includes star formation as well as energy and chemical enrichment feedback from asymptotic giant branch stars, core-collapse supernovae, and Type Ia supernovae. The predicted relations between the He mass fraction, Y, and the metallicity, Z, in the interstellar medium of our simulated disc galaxies depend on the galaxy star formation history. In particular, dY/dZ is not constant and evolves as a function of time, depending on the specific chemical element that we choose to trace Z; in particular, dY/dX O and dY/dX C increase as a function of time, whereas dY/dX N decreases. In the gas-phase, we find negative radial gradients of Y, due to the inside-out growth of our simulated galaxy discs as a function of time; this gives rise to longer chemical enrichment timescales in the outer galaxy regions, where we find lower average values for Y and Z. Finally, by means of chemical-evolution models, in the galactic bulge and inner disc, we predict steeper Y vs. age relations at high Z than in the outer galaxy regions. We conclude that for calibrating the assumed Y-Z relation in stellar models, C, N, and C+N are better proxies for the metallicity than O because they show steeper and less scattered relations.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Combined stable isotope and gut contents analysis of food webs in plant-dominated, shallow lakes

1. To determine feeding links between primary producers, invertebrates and fish, stable isotope analyses and gut content analyses of fish were conducted on the components of four shallow, eutrophic to hypertrophic, plant-dominated lakes. 2. Although separation of basal resources was possible, the diets of both fish and invertebrates were broad, comprising food from different compartments (planktonic, epiphytic/benthic), as well as from different trophic levels. 3. Mixing models were used to determine the extent to which periphyton production supported higher trophic levels. Only one species of invertebrate relied upon periphyton production exclusively. 4. Fish density affected the diets of invertebrates. The response was different for planktonic and epiphytic/benthic invertebrates. The proportion of periphyton production in the diets of zooplankton appeared to increase with fish density, whilst it decreased for other invertebrates. 5. As all zooplankton samples were collected in the open water at dusk, these results are further evidence for the diurnal horizontal migration of zooplankton. Although not conclusive, they are consistent with a behavioural response by invertebrates and zooplankton in the presence of fish

The contribution of insect prey to the total nitrogen content of sundews (Drosera spp.) determined in situ by stable isotope analysis

The contribution of insect prey to total N in the carnivorous plants, Drosera rotundifolia and D. intermedia, was quantified in situ and without any experimental manipulation using natural abundance stable isotope analysis. Samples of D. rotundifolia and D. intermedia, insects and noncarnivorous reference plants were collected from three contrasting locations across Britain. The proportion of Drosera nitrogen obtained from insect prey was calculated by a mixing model using δ<sup>15</sup>N values from the different plant groups. The mean proportion of Drosera N derived from prey was 50%. There were significant differences in this proportion between sites, and significant differences within sites. There were significant differences between plant tissues and a significant negative relationship between the proportion of N derived from prey and the C : N ratio of Drosera tissues. There was little evidence of differences in prey capture/utilisation in response to N availability, possibly due to a limited range in available N between the sites. However, evidence of a positive benefit of prey capture was apparent through the decrease in C : N ratio with increasing prey N concentrations in the plants

Immersion tanks and batch cabinet spray equipment costs

The manufacturing sector has experienced a transition with its\u27 industrial cleaning methods, turning away from chlorinated solvent vapor degreasing towards more environmentally acceptable alternative industrial cleaning processes. In support of this change, it has become necessary to develop tools that allow preliminary economic evaluations of these alternatives. The research detailed in this thesis was undertaken to further develop the economic tools of the Solvent Alternatives GuidE (SAGE) computer program originally developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to facilitate this transition. The costs of industrial cleaning equipment were investigated for aqueous, semi-aqueous, and hydrocarbon cleaning technologies. The costs of two basic equipment configurations were identified as capable of being modeled, immersion tanks and batch cabinet spray washers. This thesis details three cost models for immersion tanks as a function of their volume. The models differ on the materials of construction, carbon steel, stainless steel, and both carbon and stainless steel construction. In addition, eight process options were identified and modeled for immersion tanks. These options were ultrasonics, mechanical agitation, particle filtration, rotating basket mechanism, immersed jets, air sparging, vapor extraction, and oil skimmers. An additive procedure is suggested from which a total estimate of the cost of immersion equipment can be made. Also detailed, is a cost model for batch cabinet spray equipment. This model, suitable for estimating the cost of both top-load and front-load equipment configurations, is a function of total equipment volume, i.e., spray chamber volume plus reservoir volume. A comparison of cost estimates for three immersion tanks between those generated using the aforementioned cost models and vendor quotes demonstrated that the models were capable of providing cost estimates within the ±30 per cent accuracy levels required of a study estimate in traditional process engineering design. Finally, the annualized costs of an alternative process are projected in which the calculations performed detail some of the design considerations necessary to evaluate an alternative industrial cleaning process

The age-metallicity structure of the Milky Way disc using APOGEE

The measurement of the structure of stellar populations in the Milky Way disc places fundamental constraints on models of galaxy formation and evolution. Previously, the disc’s structure has been studied in terms of populations defined geometrically and/or chemically, but a decomposition based on stellar ages provides a more direct connection to the history of the disc, and stronger constraint on theory. Here, we use positions, abundances and ages for 31 244 red giant branch stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-APOGEE survey, spanning 3 < Rgc < 15 kpc, to dissect the disc into mono-age and mono-[Fe/H] populations at low and high [α/Fe]. For each population, with age < 2 Gyr and [Fe/H] < 0.1 dex, we measure the structure and surface-mass density contribution. We find that low [α/Fe] mono-age populations are fit well by a broken exponential, which increases to a peak radius and decreases thereafter. We show that this profile becomes broader with age, interpreted here as a new signal of disc heating and radial migration. High [α/Fe] populations are well fit as single exponentials within the radial range considered, with an average scalelength of 1.9 ± 0.1 kpc. We find that the relative contribution of high to low [α/Fe] populations at R0 is f� = 18 per cent ± 5 per cent; high [α/Fe] contributes most of the mass at old ages, and low [α/Fe] at young ages. The low and high [α/Fe] populations overlap in age at intermediate [Fe/H], although both contribute mass at R0 across the full range of [Fe/H]. The mass-weighted scaleheight hZ distribution is a smoothly declining exponential function. High [α/Fe] populations are thicker than low [α/Fe], and the average hZ increases steadily with age, between 200 and 600 pc

The stellar mass of the Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus accretion remnant

The \textit{Gaia}-Sausage/Enceladus (GS/E) structure is an accretion remnant which comprises a large fraction of the Milky Way's stellar halo. We study GS/E using high-purity samples of kinematically selected stars from APOGEE DR16 and \textit{Gaia}. Employing a novel framework to account for kinematic selection biases using distribution functions, we fit density profiles to these GS/E samples and measure their masses. We find that GS/E has a shallow density profile in the inner Galaxy, with a break between 15--25~kpc beyond which the profile steepens. We also find that GS/E is triaxial, with axis ratios 1:0.55:0.45 (nearly prolate), and the major axis is oriented about 80~degrees from the Sun--Galactic centre line and 16 degrees above the plane. We measure a stellar mass for GS/E of $1.45\,^{+0.92}_{-0.51}\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\,^{+0.13}_{-0.37} \mathrm{(sys.)}\ \times10^{8}~\Msun. Our mass estimate is lower than others in the literature, a finding we attribute to the excellent purity of the samples we work with. We also fit a density profile to the entire Milky Way stellar halo, finding a mass in the range of 6.7-8.4 \times 10^{8}$~\Msun, and implying that GS/E could make up as little as 15-25~per~cent of the mass of the Milky Way stellar halo. Our lower stellar mass combined with standard stellar-mass-to-halo mass relations implies that GS/E constituted a minor 1:8 mass-ratio merger at the time of its accretion.Comment: Accepted in MNRA