Nitrate reduction over nanoscale zero-valent iron prepared by hydrogen reduction of goethite

Nitrate reduction with nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) was reported as a potential technology to remove nitrate from nitrate-contaminated water. In this paper, nitrate reduction with NZVI prepared by hydrogen reduction of natural goethite (NZVI-N, -N represents natural goethite) and hydrothermal goethite (NZVI-H, -H represents hydrothermal goethite) was conducted. Besides, the effects of reaction time, nitrate concentration, iron-to-nitrate ratio on nitrate removal rate over NZVI-H and NZVI-N were investigated. To prove their excellent nitrate reduction capacities, NZVI-N and NZVI-H were compared with ordinary zero-valent iron (OZVI-N) through the static experiments. Based on all above investigations, the mechanism of nitrate reduction with NZVI-N was proposed. The result showed that reaction time, nitrate concentration, iron-to-nitrate ratio played an important role in nitrate reduction by NZVI-N and NZVI-H. Compared with OZVI, NZVI-N and NZVI-H showed little relationship with pH. And NZVI-N for nitrate composition offers a higher stability than NZVI-H because of the existence of Al-substitution. Furthermore, NZVI-N, prepared by hydrogen reduction of goethite, has higher activity for nitrate reduction and the products contain hydrogen, nitrogen, NH 4 +, a little nitrite, but no NOx, meanwhile NZVI-N was oxidized to Fe 2+. It is a relatively easy and cost-effective method for nitrate removal, so NZVI-N reducing nitrate has a great potential application in nitrate removal of groundwater. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Quality and readability of information materials for people with brain tumours and their families

Written information is commonly used to inform patients about their disease and treatment, but must be evidence-based and understandable to be useful. This study assessed the quality of the content and the readability of information brochures for people affected by brain tumours. We randomly selected 18 publicly available brochures. Brochures were assessed by criteria to assess the quality of content using the DISCERN instrument. Readability was tested using three commonly used formulas, which yield the reading grade level required to comprehend the brochure (sixth grade level recommended). The mean overall DISCERN score was 3.17 out of a maximum of 5 (moderate quality); only one achieved a rating greater than 4 (high quality). Only one brochure met the sixth grade readability criteria. Although brochures may have accurate content, few satisfied all of the recommended criteria to evaluate their content. Existing brochures need to be critically reviewed and simplified, consumer-focused brochures produced.

Health professionals’ perspectives on information provision for patients with brain tumours and their families

A significant number of patients diagnosed with primary brain tumours report unmet information needs. Using concept mapping methodology, this study aimed to identify strategies for improving information provision, and to describe factors that health professionals understood to influence their provision of information to patients with brain tumours and their families. Concept mapping is a mixed methods approach that uses statistical methods to represent participants’ perceived relationships between elements as conceptual maps. These maps, and results of associated data collection and analyses, are used to extract concepts involved in information provision to these patients. Thirty health professionals working across a range of neuro-oncology roles and settings participated in the concept mapping process. Participants rated a care coordinator as the most important strategy for improving brain tumour care, with psychological support as a whole rated as the most important element of care. Five major themes were identified as facilitating information provision: health professionals’ communication skills, style and attitudes; patients’ needs and preferences; perceptions of patients’ need for protection and initiative; rapport and continuity between patients and health professionals; and the nature of the health care system. Overall, health professionals conceptualised information provision as ‘individualised’, dependent on these interconnected personal and environmental factors.

Impact of a government triple zero awareness campaign on emergency department patient characteristics

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a government triple zero community awareness campaign on the characteristics of patients attending an ED. Methods: A study using Emergency Department Information System data was conducted in an adult metropolitan tertiary-referral teaching hospital in Brisbane. The three outcomes measured in the 3 month post-campaign period were arrival mode, Australasian Triage Scale and departure status. These measures reflect ambulance usage, clinical urgency and illness severity, respectively. They were compared with those in the 3 month pre-campaign period. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the impacts of the campaign on each of the three outcome measures after controlling for age, sex, day and time of arrival, and daily minimum temperature. Results: There were 17 920 visits in the pre- and 17 793 visits in the post-campaign period. After the campaign, fewer patients arrived at the ED by road ambulance (odds ratio [OR] 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80–1.00), although the impact of the campaign on the arrival mode was only close to statistical significance (Wald χ2-test, P= 0.055); and patients were significantly less likely to have higher clinical urgency (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.79–0.94), while more likely to be admitted (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.38–2.05) or complete treatment in the ED (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.23–1.73) instead of leaving without waiting to be seen. Conclusions: The campaign had no significant impact on the arrival mode of the patients. After the campaign, the illness acuity of the patients decreased, whereas the illness severity of the patients increased.

TiltZoom : tilt-based zooming control for easy one-handed mobile interactions

In this paper, we present TiltZoom, a collection of tilt-based interaction techniques designed for easy one-handed zooming on mobile devices. TiltZoom represents novel gestural interaction techniques, implemented using rate-of-rotation readings from a gyroscope, a sensor commonly embedded on current generation smart phones. We designed and experimented three variants of TiltZoom - Tilt Level, Tilt and Hold and Flip Gesture. The design decisions for all three variants are discussed in this paper and their performance, as well as subjective user experience are evaluated and compared against conventional touch-based zooming techniques. TiltZoom appears to be a worthy addition to current established collection of gesture-based mobile interaction techniques for zooming controls, especially when user has only one hand available when moving about.

Nutritional status in Parkinson's disease patients undergoing deep-brain stimulation surgery : a pilot study

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are at higher risk of malnutrition due to PD symptoms and pharmacotherapy side effects. Poorer outcomes are associated with higher amounts of weight loss (>5%) and lower levels of fat free mass. When pharmacotherapy is no longer effective for symptom control, deep-brain stimulation (DBS) surgery may be considered. People with PD scheduled for DBS surgery were recruited from a Brisbane neurological clinic (n=11 out of 16). The Scale for Outcomes of Parkinson’s disease –Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT), Modified Constipation Assessment Scale (MCAS), and a 3-day food diary were mailed to participants’ homes for completion prior to hospital admission. During admission, the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), weight, height and body composition were assessed. Mean(±s.d.) PD duration from diagnosis and time since occurrence of PD symptoms was 9.0(±8.0) and 12(±8.8) years, respectively. Five participants reported unintentional weight loss (average loss of 15.6%). PD duration but not years since symptom onset significantly predicted PG-SGA scores (β=4.2, t(8)=2.7, p<.05). Both were positively correlated with PG-SGA score (r = .667, r=.587). On average, participants classified as well-nourished (SGA-A) (n=4) were younger, had shorter disease durations, lower PG-SGA scores, higher body mass (BMI) and fat free mass (FFMI) indices when compared to malnourished participants (SGA-B) (n=7). They also reported fewer non-motor symptoms on the SCOPA-AUT and MCAS. Three participants had previously received dietetic advice but not in relation to PD. These findings demonstrate that malnutrition remains unrecognised and untreated in this group despite unintentional weight loss and a high prevalence of malnutrition.

Nutritional status in Parkinson’s disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery : a pilot study

Objectives: People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are at higher risk of malnutrition due to PD symptoms and pharmacotherapy side effects. When pharmacotherapy is no longer effective for symptom control, deep-brain stimulation (DBS) surgery may be considered. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status of people with PD who may be at higher risk of malnutrition related to unsatisfactory symptom management with optimised medical therapy. Design: This was an observational study using a convenience sample. Setting: Participants were seen during their hospital admission for their deep brain stimulation surgery. Participants: People with PD scheduled for DBS surgery were recruited from a Brisbane neurological clinic (n=15). Measurements: The Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), weight, height and body composition were assessed to determine nutritional status. Results: Six participants (40%) were classified as moderately malnourished (SGA-B). Eight participants (53%) reported previous unintentional weight loss (average loss of 13.3%). On average, participants classified as well-nourished (SGA-A) were younger, had shorter disease durations, lower PG-SGA scores, higher body mass (BMI) and fat free mass indices (FFMI) when compared to malnourished participants (SGA-B). Five participants had previously received dietetic advice but only one in relation to unintentional weight loss. Conclusion: Malnutrition remains unrecognised and untreated in this group despite unintentional weight loss and presence of nutrition impact symptoms. Improving nutritional status prior to surgery may improve surgical outcomes.

Dutch tilt, Aussie auteur : the films of Rolf de Heer. 2nd ed.

Dutch-born Australian director, Rolf de Heer, is Australia's most successful and unpredictable film-maker, with thirteen feature films of widely varying style and genre to his name. Arising from the author's 2006 - 2009 PhD research at the Queensland University of Technology (which focussed on the psychoanalytic use of sound in his films), and a fixed term Research Fellowship at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, Australia, "Dutch Tilt, Aussie Auteur: The Films of Rolf de Heer" was first published in 2009 by VDM in Saarbrucken, Germany. This second edition addresses de Heer's additional film-making since 2009, and as with the first edition, is an auteur analysis of the thirteen feature films he has directed (and mostly written and produced). The book explores the theoretical instability of the concept of auteurism and concludes that there is a signature world view to be detected in his oeuvre, and that de Heer (quite possibly unconsciously) promotes unlikely protagonists who are non-hyper masculine, child-like and nurturing, as opposed to the typical Hollywood hero who is macho, exploitative and hyper masculine. Rolf de Heer was born in Heemskerk, Holland, in 1951 and migrated to Australia with his family in 1959. He spent seven years working for the ABC before gaining entry to Australia's Film, Television and Radio School, where he studied Producing and Directing. From his debut feature film after graduating, the children's story about the restoration of a Tiger Moth biplane, "Tail of a Tiger" (1984) to his breakout cult sensation "Bad Boy Bubby" (1993) which "tore Venice [Film Festival] apart" to the first Aboriginal Australian language film "Ten Canoes" (2006) which scooped the pool at the Australian Film Institute awards, de Heer has consistently proven himself unpredictable. This analysis of his widely disparate films, however, suggests that Australia's most innovative film-maker has a signature pre-occupation with giving a voice to marginalised, non-hyper masculine protagonists. Demonstrating a propensity to write and direct in a European-like style, his 'Dutch tilt' is very much not Hollywood, but is nevertheless representative of a typically Aussie world-view.

Utility of the Mild Brain Injury Atypical Symptoms Scale to detect symptom exaggeration : an analogue simulation study

Brief self-report symptom checklists are often used to screen for postconcussional disorder (PCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are highly susceptible to symptom exaggeration. This study examined the utility of the five-item Mild Brain Injury Atypical Symptoms Scale (mBIAS) designed for use with the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) and the PTSD Checklist–Civilian (PCL–C). Participants were 85 Australian undergraduate students who completed a battery of self-report measures under one of three experimental conditions: control (i.e., honest responding, n = 24), feign PCD (n = 29), and feign PTSD (n = 32). Measures were the mBIAS, NSI, PCL–C, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2, Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF), and the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS). Participants instructed to feign PTSD and PCD had significantly higher scores on the mBIAS, NSI, PCL–C, and MMPI–2–RF than did controls. Few differences were found between the feign PCD and feign PTSD groups, with the exception of scores on the NSI (feign PCD > feign PTSD) and PCL–C (feign PTSD > feign PCD). Optimal cutoff scores on the mBIAS of ≥8 and ≥6 were found to reflect “probable exaggeration” (sensitivity = .34; specificity = 1.0; positive predictive power, PPP = 1.0; negative predictive power, NPP = .74) and “possible exaggeration” (sensitivity = .72; specificity = .88; PPP = .76; NPP = .85), respectively. Findings provide preliminary support for the use of the mBIAS as a tool to detect symptom exaggeration when administering the NSI and PCL–C.

A comparison of new and existing mild traumatic brain injury vignettes : recommendations for research into post-concussion syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To review and compare the mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) vignettes used in postconcussion syndrome (PCS) research, and to develop 3 new vignettes. METHOD: The new vignettes were devised using World Health Organization (WHO) mTBI diagnostic criteria [1]. Each vignette depicted a very mild (VM), mild (M), or severe (S) brain injury. Expert review (N = 27) and readability analysis was used to validate the new vignettes and compare them to 5 existing vignettes. RESULTS: The response rate was 44%. The M vignette and existing vignettes were rated as depicting a mTBI; however, the fit-to-criteria of these vignettes differed significantly. The fit-to-criteria of the M vignette was as good as that of 3 existing vignettes and significantly better than 2 other vignettes. As expected, the VM and S vignettes were a poor fit-to-criteria. CONCLUSIONS: These new vignettes will assist PCS researchers to test the limits of important etiology factors by varying the severity of depicted injuries.

Systematic variation of the severity of motor vehicle accident-related traumatic brain injury vignettes produces different post-concussion symptom reports

This study investigated the specificity of the post-concussion syndrome (PCS) expectation-as-etiology hypothesis. Undergraduate students (n = 551) were randomly allocated to one of three vignette conditions. Vignettes depicted either a very mild (VMI), mild (MI), or moderate-to-severe (MSI) motor vehicle-related traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants reported the PCS and PTSD symptoms that they imagined the depicted injury would produce. Secondary outcomes (knowledge of mild TBI, and the perceived undesirability of TBI) were also assessed. After data screening, the distribution of participants by condition was: VMI (n = 100), MI (n = 96), and MSI (n = 71). There was a significant effect of condition on PCS symptomatology, F(2, 264) = 16.55, p < .001. Significantly greater PCS symptomatology was expected in the MSI condition compared to the other conditions (MSI > VMI; medium effect, r = .33; MSI > MI; small-to-medium effect, r = .22). The same pattern of group differences was found for PTSD symptoms, F(2, 264) = 17.12, p < .001. Knowledge of mild TBI was not related to differences in expected PCS symptoms by condition; and the perceived undesirability of TBI was only associated with reported PCS symptomatology in the MSI condition. Systematic variation in the severity of a depicted TBI produces different PCS and PTSD symptom expectations. Even a very mild TBI vignette can elicit expectations of PCS symptoms.