The impact of emergency remote teaching on a blended engineering course: perspectives and implications for the future.

Unlabelled: Higher education institutions globally were forced to transition to remote teaching and learning when the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the world in 2020. The rushed, unplanned nature of the transition led to the approach being labeled Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This paper evaluates the impact of ERT on a blended course in engineering using a descriptive case study approach applying the Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) evaluation model.

Design and development of a pool and billiards assistive device for the physically challenged.

This research entailed the development and prototyping of a bespoke assistive device for a subject who was a local pool and billiards championship player. The subject was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to undergo surgery followed by chemotherapy to completely remove the mass in the brain. Following this, there was some loss in motor skills on the right side of his body affecting his gait and grip on objects and his ability to play pool and billiards.

Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Chronic Neuropathic or Radicular Pain: An Interaction of Pain and Age.

A growing body of empirical research has confirmed an association between chronic pain and cognitive dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to determine whether cognitive function is affected in patients with a diagnosis of chronic neuropathic or radicular pain relative to healthy control participants matched by age, gender, and years of education. We also examined the interaction of pain with age in terms of cognitive performance.

Pretreatment anxiety and pain acceptance are associated with response to trigger point injection therapy for chronic myofascial pain.

Background And Aim: This study examined the psychosocial profile of patients who responded or did not respond to trigger point injection therapy for chronic myofascial pain.

Methods: Seventy one patients with a diagnosis of chronic myofascial pain of the paraspinous muscles completed a pretreatment questionnaire measuring demographic and social factors, and validated scales to assess pain intensity, pain interference (physical and emotional), and defined psychological characteristics (pain catastrophizing, pain acceptance, pain self-efficacy, mood and anxiety). Trigger point injection therapy of the affected areas of myofascial pain was performed and follow-up was conducted by telephone at one week (n = 65) and one month (n = 63) post intervention to assess treatment outcome (pain intensity and pain-related physical interference).

New strategies to control the inflammatory response in cardiac surgery.

Purpose Of Review: To present and interpret data from recent clinical studies (July 2002-August 2003) of strategies to control the inflammatory response after cardiac surgery.

Recent Findings: Off-pump coronary artery bypass techniques, which avoid the need for extracorporeal circulation, attenuate the inflammatory response and appear to confer clinical benefit. Concerns regarding the quality of the revascularization after off-pump coronary artery bypass appear to have been allayed.