Showing papers by "King's College, Aberdeen published in 2003"

Anaesthetists’ Non‐Technical Skills (ANTS): evaluation of a behavioural marker system†

Abstract: Background. Non-technical skills are critical for good anaesthetic practice but are not addressed explicitly in normal training. Realization of the need to train and assess these skills is growing, but these activities must be based on properly developed skills frameworks and validated measurement tools. A prototype behavioural marker system was developed using human factors research techniques. The aim of this study was to conduct an experimental evaluation to establish its basic psychometric properties and usability. Method. The Anaesthetists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) system prototype comprises four skill categories (task management, team working, situation awareness, and decision making) divided into 15 elements, each with example behaviours. To investigate its experimental validity, reliably and usability, 50 consultant anaesthetists were trained to use the ANTS system. They were asked to rate the behaviour of a target anaesthetist using the prototype system in eight videos of simulated anaesthetic scenarios. Data were collected from the ratings forms and an evaluation questionnaire. Results. The results showed that the system is complete, and that the skills are observable and can be rated with acceptable levels of agreement and accuracy. The internal consistency of the system appeared sound, and responses regarding usability were very positive. Conclusions. The findings of the evaluation indicated that the ANTS system has a satisfactory level of validity, reliability and usability in an experimental setting, provided users receive adequate training. It is now ready to be tested in real training environments, so that full guidelines can be developed for its integration into the anaesthetic curriculum.

Anaesthetists' attitudes to teamwork and safety.

Abstract: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 222 anaesthetists from 11 Scottish hospitals to measure their attitudes towards human and organisational factors that can have an impact on effective team performance and consequently on patient safety. A customised version of the Operating Room Management Attitude Questionnaire (ORMAQ) was used. This measures attitudes to leadership, communication, teamwork, stress and fatigue, work values, human error and organisational climate. The respondents generally demonstrated positive attitudes towards the interpersonal aspects of their work, such as team behaviours and they recognised the importance of communication skills, such as assertiveness. However, the results suggest that some anaesthetists do not fully appreciate the debilitating effects of stress and fatigue on performance. Their responses were comparable with (and slightly more favourable than) those reported in previous ORMAQ surveys of anaesthetists and surgeons in other countries.

Land-use Planning and the Housing Market: A Comparative Review of the UK and the USA

Abstract: This paper provides a review of some of the key articles and research examining the relationship between planning regulation and its impact on the housing market in the UK and the US. In both count...

Body image perception, satisfaction and somatotype in male and female athletes and non-athletes: results using a novel morphing technique

Abstract: Thirty-six adults (24 males, 12 females) were assessed for anthropometric somatotype and body image (perception and satisfaction) by a novel technique using quantitative distortion of a digital still image. Software produced random distortions in nine body regions. The participants manipulated interactive slider controls to adjust each body feature in turn, recreate their perceived image and indicate their desired image. There were no differences in perception between the sexes. However, the ideal-actual differences (i.e. satisfaction) indicated that males desired larger and females smaller features, respectively, in the chest and thighs (P<0.001) and arms and calves (P<0.01). When the male-derived data were partitioned by sport (strength, endurance, team-sport and controls), differences were found in the perceived image size in the chest and rib regions (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). Strength athletes perceived these areas to be smaller and the control group perceived these areas to be large...

Reconstructing the Siluro-Devonian coastline of Gondwana: insights from the sedimentology of the Port Stephens Formation, Falkland Islands

Abstract: Silurian and lower Devonian sedimentary successions are uncommon within the remnants of Gondwana. The Port Stephens Formation, the basal unit of the middle Palaeozoic West Falkland Group, presents a rare opportunity to study Gondwanan material of Siluro-Devonian age. The formation on West Falkland is c . 2560 m thick and consists of five members: Plantation, Albemarle, Mount Alice, South Harbour and Fish Creek. Thirty-five lithofacies are defined using variations in grain size and bedding characteristics. The distribution of these lithofacies and their associated ichnofacies between the various members lead us to suggest terrestrial and shallow marine deposition on an extensive, gently shelving alluvial to coastal plain. Vertical facies trends through the Port Stephens Formation, and into the base of the overlying Fox Bay Formation, record a complex superposition of subenvironments within a distinct overall transgressive–regressive–transgressive pattern, with the bulk of sediment accumulating during the regressive phase. Palaeocurrents indicate a basin to the present-day NE throughout. These results, together with lithostratigraphic correlations between the Port Stephens Formation and the Nardouw Subgroup in South Africa, are consistent with a reconstructed position off eastern South Africa and on the palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana, requiring a near-180° rotation of the Falkland Island microplate during break-up, in agreement with previous models. We suggest that global changes in sea level during the mid–late Silurian and early Devonian strongly influenced changes in the depositional environment. Enhanced erosion of the continental margin and extensive sediment bypass during the regressive phase of this cycle could help to explain the low abundance of preserved Gondwanan material of this age.

Crystalline Placer Gold from the Rio Neuquén, Argentina: Implications for the Gold Budget in Placer Gold Formation

Abstract: Recent fluvial sediments of the Rio Neuquen, Argentina, contain variable amounts of placer gold. In addition to rounded, detrital placer gold, the sediments also contain pristine crystalline gold (type 1 gold), which occurs as overgrowths on detrital placer gold cores. Type 1 gold is locally rimmed by gold with a wormlike or crystalline texture (type 2 gold). The chemistry of the primary cores indicates variable intragrain and intergrain compositional heterogeneity. This is interpreted to indicate a multisource origin. Type 1 gold is composed of virtually pure gold (>98 at. % Au) and type 2 gold is an Au-Hg amalgam (4–9 at. % Hg). Both varieties are authigenic in origin. The formation of the virtually pure type 1 gold is interpreted to be due to the addition of Au from an external source, rather than by the removal of Ag and other metals. The AuHgAg type 2 gold is interpreted to be due to Hg contamination from historic mining. Type 1 gold is interpreted to be analogous to the Ag-poor rims present on many placer gold grains. The evidence presented in this study supports the view that the Ag-poor rims on placer gold grains are the result of Au addition and not Ag removal. This study also has implications for both quantitative morphological and paragenetic studies of placer gold grains.

The Economic Base of Rural Areas: A SAM-Based Analysis of the Western Isles, 1997:

Abstract: A model based on social accounting techniques is used to quantify the relative importance of traditional and nontraditional elements of the economic base of rural areas. Empirical analysis is focused on the Western Isles, Scotland. The results highlight the importance of central government funding of public services. They also indicate that exogenous transfers of income direct to households support 8% of jobs and 7% of factor earnings in the region. It is argued that, in addition to industry structure and input–output linkages, rural economic-base multipliers depend on the demographic profile of the local population and the extent of interdependencies between local production and consumption.

On the lower bounds for critical loads under large deformations in non-linear hyperelastic composites with imperfect interlaminar adhesion

Abstract: The present paper investigates a mechanism of compressive fracture for heterogeneous incompressible non-linear materials with special kinds of defects of interfacial adhesion under large deformations. The analysis finds the lower bounds for the critical load. In order to calculate the bounds, the problem of the internal instability is considered within the scope of the exact statement based on the application of the model of a piecewise-homogeneous medium and the equations of the 3-D stability theory. The solution of the 3-D problem is found for the most general case accounting for large deformations and the biaxiality of compressive loads. The characteristic determinants are derived for the first four modes, which are more commonly observed. Special attention is given to the calculation of critical loads for hyperelastic layers described by a simplified version of Mooney's potential, namely the neo-Hookean potential.

Practising what we preach? A practical approach to bringing research, policy and practice together in relation to children and health inequalities

Abstract: This paper explores the need for better links between research and practice in relation to work with children and health inequalities. Despite continuing discussion about the need to improve dissemination of research activity in general, study of this area remains largely neglected. As a result, despite the rhetoric, the research and practice gap continues to exist. An attempt to remedy this was undertaken through the support of a user fellowship as part of the UK Economic and Social Research Council Health Variations Programme. The paper describes a number of activities that were undertaken during the fellowship, and discusses the implications of these for improving connections and minimizing the research and practice 'gap'. It argues that a need exists for researchers to develop innovative dissemination strategies and suggests that potential exists for an interactive model of dissemination. Such a model implies a more active role for users of research in the shaping of research agendas.

Short-term longitudinal evaluation of cerebral blood flow in mild Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to estabilish whether subtle changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) can be detected in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a period as short as three months. Aprospective evaluation of rCBF changes with HMPAO SPECT at baseline and after 3 and 6 months was carried out. Standard clinical dementia tests were performed in parallel. The study enrolled 13 patients with mild probable AD from an outpatient memory clinic. SPECT data collected at baseline and after three months were compared using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). Significant clusters of rCBF decrement in the medial part of the temporal lobe in both hemispheres, in the orbital part of the right frontal lobe and in the inferior part of the right parietal lobe were observed. No significant differences were found using a region of interest (ROI) analysis. After six months SPM analysis showed larger clusters of significant decrement in the same areas. ROI analysis was now sensitive to the rCBF changes and significant differences were shown in all brain regions except the temporal lobes. SPM analysis of SPECT data can detect significant changes in rCBF in mild AD over a short time interval. This method might be of potential advantage for the early diagnosis of AD and for its differentiation from stable cognitive impairments.

Sand transport on steeply sloping plane and rippled beds

Abstract: Experiments on sand transport have been carried out in the Sloping Sediment Duct at HR Wallingford. The aim of the experiments was to investigate sediment transport mechanisms, for sand of varying degree of grading, on sloping beds. The Sloping Sediment Duct is a steady flow, recirculating duct, capable of generating mean flow speeds of up to 1 m/s and tilting to +/-30°. Twenty-two tests with two different sediments were conducted. Both sediments had a median grain size of about 0.23 mm but different standard deviations. Bed slopes up to +/-20° were used in the experiments. The results show that bedforms have a significant effect on the transport rate. Since the bedforms, in turn, are affected significantly by the slope, the relation between transport rate and slope is not a monotonic function. Maximum suspended transport rates were attained for downslope flows at angles of about 10°. The transport rate for widely graded sediment was significantly larger than that for well-sorted sediment for almost all flows and slopes.

Non-Arrhenius behaviour in the oxidation of two carbonaceous substrates

Abstract: Two carbonaceous substances—a chemically activated carbon and a bituminous coal—are found, in microcalorimeter experiments, to display a temperature dependence of reaction rate at odds with the Arrhenius equation. Since Arrhenius behaviour is always assumed in tests for spontaneous heating of such substances, this places a question mark over the validity of such tests for at least some of the materials to which they might be routinely applied.

The creation of settlements in rural Scotland: Planned villages in Dumfries and Galloway, 1730–1850

Abstract: Planned villages erected in the Scottish countryside in the 18th and 19th centuries did much to create the settlement structure of rural Scotland today. South‐west Scotland was affected by this movement as much as other regions of Scotland. This paper demonstrates the importance of the planned village movement to Dumfries and Galloway by ascertaining how many planned villages were erected in this region, by whom and for what purpose. The continuing importance of the planned villages is also demonstrated.

A Means of Direct Determination of the Biot Number in Oven Heating Tests: Part II - Implications of the Results for Temperature Measurement

Abstract: Previously reported results for the Biot number in an oven heating test have been utilised in the calculation of convection coefficients, both to the sample itself and to a thermocouple measuring the oven temperature. A full heat balance on the thermocouple tip is performed in order to predict the accuracy with which the oven temperature - utilised in calculations following from oven heating experiments - can be measured.

Evidence for petrographic variation between small samples of an anthracite coal

Abstract: Results in a microcalorimeter for a UK anthracite coal at temperatures of 60 and 70°C are found to display a considerable spread which is tentatively attributed to petrographic variations between the samples. Results are compared with previously reported ones for a low-rank coal in the same instrument at lower temperatures.