Abstract Background Studies have shown that blended approaches combining e-learning with face-to-face training reduces costs whilst maintaining similar learning outcomes. The preferences in learning ...approach for healthcare providers to this new style of learning have not been comprehensively studied. The aim of this study is to evaluate the acceptability of blended learning to advanced resuscitation training. Methods Participants taking part in the traditional and blended electronic advanced life support (e-ALS) courses were invited to complete a written evaluation of the course. Participants’ views were captured on a 6-point Likert scale and in free text written comments covering the content, delivery and organisation of the course. Proportional-odds cumulative logit models were used to compare quantitative responses. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise qualitative feedback. Results 2848 participants from 31 course centres took part in the study (2008–2010). Candidates consistently scored content delivered face-to-face over the same content delivered over the e-learning platform. Candidates valued practical hands on training which included simulation highly. Within the e-ALS group, a common theme was a feeling of “time pressure” and they “preferred the face-to-face teaching”. However, others felt that e-ALS “suited their learning style”, was “good for those recertifying”, and allowed candidates to “use the learning materials at their own pace”. Conclusions The e-ALS course was well received by most, but not all participants. The majority felt the e-learning module was beneficial. There was universal agreement that the face-to-face training was invaluable. Individual learning styles of the candidates affected their reaction to the course materials.
A Table of 127 balanced incomplete block design parameters is given intended to be useful to those constructing presentation orders for consumer product evaluation experiments. Designs that may have ...row-column balance or block resolution are identified, since these are useful in overcoming bias introduced through presentation order effects or for constructing multi-session experiments, respectively. Only one partial experimental plan is given. Instead guidance is given on general construction methods by means of three examples. Plans for the designs may be obtained through reference to a widely available work on combinatorial design or with a computer program available from the authors.
Predicting paired preferences from sensory data Buck, Dominic; Wakeling, Ian; Greenhoff, Keith ...
Food quality and preference,
07/2001, Letnik:
12, Številka:
5
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
Paired-preference studies for market research tend to focus on highly replicating the few comparisons of most interest to the client. By establishing a predictive model between sensory panel means ...scores for products and the relative proportions of consumers preferring them when presented in pairs, it is possible to get reliable predictions of all possible comparisons among a whole group of products. The binomial discrete choice logistic model is appropriate for building this relationship between sensory and consumer preference and can be easily fitted using the commercially available statistical package SAS. Modifications to the model are described to account for consumers who score products either as “equally liked” or “equally disliked”. Rather than treat these as ties, the argument is made that no-preference is best modelled as a function of the sensory data itself. An application of the new model is given to data from a home-test of 12 personal care products that were evaluated by more than 500 consumers, each receiving six pairs of products.
Williams Latin square designs are used widely in consumer research to plan complete block experiments. It is demonstrated how these designs are a subset of a wider class of cyclic designs and how ...alternative designs, for odd numbers of samples
p, are preferable both to obtain positional and carry-over balance at twice as many values of
n the number of consumers. A consequence is that the new designs give better robustness to the variable number of consumers who turn up at a central location test. An algorithm is described that is used to sample from the wider class of designs and is sufficiently fast to be used for the interactive construction of designs within a computer package. Other specialist designs for situations where there may be factorial structure among the consumers are also described. Tables are given that list the first rows of cyclic designs generated by the algorithm, these give pairs, as well as triples of balanced Latin squares for between five and 19 products. Practical advice is given on how they may be used to construct suitable presentation order designs.
Statistical Analysis: A Decision-Making Approach Buck, Dominic
International Statistical Review / Revue Internationale de Statistique,
12/1979, Letnik:
47, Številka:
3
Book Review, Journal Article
Bipedalism is a defining trait of the hominin lineage, associated with a transition from a more arboreal to a more terrestrial environment. While there is debate about when modern human-like ...bipedalism first appeared in hominins, all known South African hominins show morphological adaptations to bipedalism, suggesting that this was their predominant mode of locomotion. Here we present evidence that hominins preserved in the Sterkfontein Caves practiced two different locomotor repertoires. The trabecular structure of a proximal femur (StW 522) attributed to Australopithecus africanus exhibits a modern human-like bipedal locomotor pattern, while that of a geologically younger specimen (StW 311) attributed to either Homo sp. or Paranthropus robustus exhibits a pattern more similar to nonhuman apes, potentially suggesting regular bouts of both climbing and terrestrial bipedalism. Our results demonstrate distinct morphological differences, linked to behavioral differences between Australopithecus and later hominins in South Africa and contribute to the increasing evidence of locomotor diversity within the hominin clade.
A mechanistic link between trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and atherogenesis has been reported. TMAO is generated enzymatically in the liver by the oxidation of trimethylamine (TMA), which is produced ...from dietary choline, carnitine and betaine by gut bacteria. It is known that certain members of methanogenic archaea (MA) could use methylated amines such as trimethylamine as growth substrates in culture. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of gut colonization with MA on lowering plasma TMAO concentrations. Initially, we screened for the colonization potential and TMAO lowering efficacy of five MA species in C57BL/6 mice fed with high choline/TMA supplemented diet, and found out that all five species could colonize and lover plasma TMAO levels, although with different efficacies. The top performing MA, Methanobrevibacter smithii, Methanosarcina mazei, and Methanomicrococcus blatticola, were transplanted into Apoe
mice fed with high choline/TMA supplemented diet. Similar to C57BL/6 mice, following initial provision of the MA, there was progressive attrition of MA within fecal microbial communities post-transplantation during the initial 3 weeks of the study. In general, plasma TMAO concentrations decreased significantly in proportion to the level of MA colonization. In a subsequent experiment, use of antibiotics and repeated transplantation of Apoe
mice with M. smithii, led to high engraftment levels during the 9 weeks of the study, resulting in a sustained and significantly lower average plasma TMAO concentrations (18.2 ± 19.6 μM) compared to that in mock-transplanted control mice (120.8 ± 13.0 μM, p < 0.001). Compared to control Apoe
mice, M. smithii-colonized mice also had a 44% decrease in aortic plaque area (8,570 μm 95% CI 19587-151821 vs. 15,369 μm 95% CI 70058-237321, p = 0.34), and 52% reduction in the fat content in the atherosclerotic plaques (14,283 μm 95% CI 4,957-23,608 vs. 29,870 μm 95% CI 18,074-41,666, p = 0.10), although these differences did not reach significance. Gut colonization with M. smithii leads to a significant reduction in plasma TMAO levels, with a tendency for attenuation of atherosclerosis burden in Apoe
mice. The anti-atherogenic potential of MA should be further tested in adequately powered experiments.
Abstract
Host-parasite interactions exert strong selection pressures on the genomes of both host and parasite. These interactions can lead to negative frequency-dependent selection, a form of ...balancing selection that is hypothesised to explain the high levels of polymorphism seen in many host immune and parasite antigen loci. Here, we sequence the genomes of several individuals of
Heligmosomoides bakeri
, a model parasite of house mice, and
Heligmosomoides polygyrus
, a closely related parasite of wood mice. Although
H. bakeri
is commonly referred to as
H. polygyrus
in the literature, their genomes show levels of divergence that are consistent with at least a million years of independent evolution. The genomes of both species contain hyper-divergent haplotypes that are enriched for proteins that interact with the host immune response. Many of these haplotypes originated prior to the divergence between
H. bakeri
and
H. polygyrus
, suggesting that they have been maintained by long-term balancing selection. Together, our results suggest that the selection pressures exerted by the host immune response have played a key role in shaping patterns of genetic diversity in the genomes of parasitic nematodes.
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