Supporting Self-management and Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder With the PolarUs App (Alpha): Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is increasingly being recognized as a key outcome of interventions for bipolar disorder (BD). Mobile phone apps can increase access to evidence-based self-management strategies and provide real-time support. However, although individuals with lived experiences desire support with monitoring and improving broader health domains, existing BD apps largely target mood symptoms only.

Pharmacology: Non-Insulin Agents.

The landscape of diabetes treatment has evolved significantly in recent years. While metformin remains first-line for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, 2 new classes of medications (sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide agonists) are becoming mainstays in therapy. These classes boast strong efficacy and desired long-term outcomes, offering cardiovascular and renal protection, as well as other benefits such as weight loss and low risk of hypoglycemia.

Use of smartphone apps in bipolar disorder: An international web-based survey of feature preferences and privacy concerns.

Background: Smartphone apps have potential for delivering interventions and supporting self-management in bipolar disorder (BD), however clinical trials of mental health apps have high dropout rates and low sustained use in real-world contexts. To support the development of app-based interventions, we explored use of and attitudes towards apps amongst people with BD, specifically concerns about privacy and preferences for various app features.

Methods: An international web-based survey was used to investigate concerns about privacy and the perceived importance of various app features among people with BD.

Beyond clicks and downloads: a call for a more comprehensive approach to measuring mobile-health app engagement.

Downloading a mobile health (m-health) app on your smartphone does not mean you will ever use it. Telling another person about an app does not mean you like it. Using an online intervention does not mean it has had an impact on your well-being.

An open circuit voltage decay system for performing injection dependent lifetime spectroscopy.

Of all of the material parameters associated with a semiconductor, the carrier lifetime is by far the most complex and dynamic, being a function of the dominant recombination mechanism, the equilibrium number of carriers, the perturbations in carriers (e.g., carrier injection), and the temperature, to name the most prominent variables.

An evaluation system for experimental silicon and silicon carbide super gate turn off thyristors.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a small-scale pulsed power system specifically intended to evaluate the suitability of experimental silicon and silicon carbide high power Super Gate Turn Off thyristors for high action (500 A(2) s and above) pulsed power applications where energy is extracted from a storage element in a rapid and controlled manner. To this end, six of each type of device was placed in a controlled three phase rectifier circuit which was in turn connected to an aircraft ground power motor-generator set and subjected to testing protocols with varying power levels, while parameters such as offset firing angle were varied.

Automated modular high energy evaluation system for experimental thyristor devices.

A high energy, modular, completely automated test bed with integrated data acquisition and characterization systems was successfully designed in order to perform both safe operating area as well as very high volume reliability testing on experimental silicon carbide Super Gate Turn Off (SGTO) thyristors. Although the system follows a modular design philosophy, with each functional block acting as a peripheral to a main control module and can be adapted to arbitrary power and pulse width levels, for the specific SGTO devices initially evaluated it was configured to have the device discharge variable current levels of up to 6 kA into a 0.5 Ω resistive load with a relatively square pulse fixed at 100 μs full width at half maximum delivering energy levels up to 1.

Taste and mouthfeel assessment of porous and non-porous silicon microparticles.

Unlike the trace minerals iron, copper and zinc, the semiconductor silicon has not had its organoleptic properties assessed. Nanostructured silicon provides the nutrient orthosilicic acid through hydrolysis in the gastrointestinal tract and is a candidate for oral silicon supplements. Mesoporous silicon, a nanostructured material, is being assessed for both oral drug and nutrient delivery.

Supporting children's grief within an adult and pediatric palliative care program.

"What about the kids?" is a dominant and consuming question for caregivers supporting children/youth around the dying and death of a family member. The concerns and fears encompassed in this question can overwhelm caregivers as they put vast amounts of energy into trying to protect children/youth from the suffering and pain that awaits them. Perhaps the hardest lesson these caregivers must learn is that they cannot protect their child/youth from the death any more than they can stop the death from happening.

Assessing change in clinical teaching skills: are we up for the challenge?

Background: The faculty development community has been challenged to more rigorously assess program impact and move beyond traditional outcomes of knowledge tests and self ratings.

Purpose: The purpose was to (a) assess our ability to measure supervisors' feedback skills as demonstrated in a clinical setting and (b) compare the results with traditional outcome measures of faculty development interventions.

Methods: A pre-post study design was used.

A gaming adventure.

Nurse orientees regularly express concern about managing difficult clinical situations. Using this information, preceptors developed an educational "adventure" game, incorporating clinical scenarios applicable to an inpatient psychiatric treatment program. The scenarios are timeless and can be generalized to other healthcare settings.

Achieving compliance with the European Working Time Directive in a large teaching hospital: a strategic approach.

This paper describes the strategy which achieved European Working Time Directive (EWTD) compliance at the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust in medicine and surgery. Compliance with EWTD regulations was assessed by diary card exercise, clinical care assessed through critical incident reports, electronic handover documents and nursing reports, training opportunities assessed by unit training directors, cost controls assessed by finance department analysis, and workload assessed by staff attendance on wards, in casualty and in theatres. There was a change in focus of care to a consultant-led, specialist registrar- (SpR-)driven service extending into evenings and on weekends, coupled with a move to a multi-skilled team for night cover, and to a move from traditional on-call shifts to a full shift system across both medicine and surgery.