Prevalence and Associations of General Practice Registrars’ Management of Atopic Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training Study

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory condition which imposes substantial burden upon patients and their families. As a frequent primary care presentation, general practice (GP) trainees must develop adequate skills in AD diagnosis and management. Objectives: We aimed to explore the prevalence and associations of GP registrars’ management of patients with AD. Methods: This study used data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) project, an ongoing cohort study of the clinical and educational experience of Australian GP registrars. Registrar, patient, and consultation factors were independent variables in multivariable logistic regression with outcome factor ‘diagnosis/problem being AD’. Results: From 2010-2019, 2,783 registrars (96% response rate) provided data from 381,180 consultations. AD was encountered in 0.6% of consults. AD was more likely to be seen in patients aged 0-1 years and patients from a non-English speaking background. AD was less likely to be seen in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander patients. Learning goals were more likely to be generated for AD and these consultations were associated with registrars seeking information or assistance. AD was strongly associated with a medication being prescribed, of which the most prescribed medications were mild or moderate potency topical corticosteroids. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, similar to other dermatological presentations, registrars find AD challenging to manage. There may be some gaps in AD management knowledge and application.

Design, Construction and Tests of a Low-Cost Myoelectric Thumb

Myoelectric signals can be used to control prostheses or exoskeletons as well as robots, i.e., devices assisting the user or replacing a missing part of the body. A typical application of myoelectric prostheses is the human hand. Here, the development of a low-cost myoelectric thumb is described, which can either be used as an additional finger or as prosthesis. Combining 3D printing with inexpensive sensors, electrodes, and electronics, the recent project offers the possibility to produce an individualized myoelectric thumb at significantly lower costs than commercial myoelectric prostheses. Alternatively, a second thumb may be supportive for people with special manual tasks. These possibilities are discussed together with disadvantages of a second thumb and drawbacks of the low-cost solution in terms of mechanical properties and wearing comfort. The study shows that a low-cost customized myoelectric thumb can be produced in this way, but further research on controlling the thumb as well as improving motorization are necessarily to make it fully usable for daily tasks.

SWOT Analysis of Solar Pumping Finance Fund (PV Fund)

Sudan is a country with a great abundance of fertile and arable land as well as water resources. However, unstable Nile levels and seasonal rain limit agricultural spans in the year, and agricultural activities far from river banks make it necessary to use underground water. Photovoltaic water pumping systems have been available in Sudan from early times, however high up-front costs for initial investment contributed to halting widespread use of the systems. A recent project developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sudan, the PV fund, incentivizes the deployment of such systems for farmers by introducing a low-risk finance mechanism. This paper aims to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities (SWOT) analysis on this finance mechanism, and further propose recommendations and alternatives. The study concluded that the strengths are not requiring the beneficiary to provide any guarantees to obtain finance, solving the problem of high-cost PV pumping, distributing risks to the financiers, and attracting farmers and beneficiaries because the repayment period is 4 years. The weak point is the long-term operability. It also provides future opportunities for banks and financial institutions to finance the mechanisms of pumping water, which helps industrial and urban development. The main threats are the government, inflation, fluctuating exchange rates, and difficulty in pricing equipment.

Client Volunteering in Organizations Serving Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities

The impetus for this research comes from a serendipitous but intriguing observation from a recent project of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies (CVSS). From 2001-2004, CVSS carried out a longitudinal evaluation of the impact of a new volunteer program on the well-being and activities of individuals with psychiatric disabilities residing in a supportive housing project. While all clients self-reported that they were happy to have volunteers working with them, observed findings indicated that there were very few behavioural improvements. However, one group of resident-clients defied this finding; they demonstrated marked behavioural improvements and their satisfaction levels were higher. Intrigued, we sought answers to these observations. It turned out that these individuals were not only beneficiaries of activities led by outside volunteers; they were also volunteering within their centre, supporting or facilitating activities for other client residents. Providing opportunities for clients with psychiatric disabilities to volunteer was an innovative development at this supportive housing centre, and the results were striking. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation:

Client Volunteering in Organizations Serving Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities

The impetus for this research comes from a serendipitous but intriguing observation from a recent project of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies (CVSS). From 2001-2004, CVSS carried out a longitudinal evaluation of the impact of a new volunteer program on the well-being and activities of individuals with psychiatric disabilities residing in a supportive housing project. While all clients self-reported that they were happy to have volunteers working with them, observed findings indicated that there were very few behavioural improvements. However, one group of resident-clients defied this finding; they demonstrated marked behavioural improvements and their satisfaction levels were higher. Intrigued, we sought answers to these observations. It turned out that these individuals were not only beneficiaries of activities led by outside volunteers; they were also volunteering within their centre, supporting or facilitating activities for other client residents. Providing opportunities for clients with psychiatric disabilities to volunteer was an innovative development at this supportive housing centre, and the results were striking. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation:

Computational Legal Methods: Text and Data Mining in Intellectual Property Research

Text and Data Mining (TDM) can generally be defined as the process of deriving high-quality information from text and data by using digital analytical tools . The impact that TDM may have on science, humanities, and the arts is invaluable. This is because by identifying the correlations and patterns that are often concealed to the eye of a human observer TDM allows for the discovery of knowledge that would have otherwise remained hidden. After a brief introduction, Section II of this chapter illustrates the state of the art in the nascent field of TDM applied to intellectual property (IP) research. It formulates some proposals of systematic classification in an area that suffers from a degree of terminological vagueness. In particular, the chapter argues that TDM, together with other types of data-driven analytical tools, should be autonomously classified as ‘computational legal methods’. Section III of the chapter offers concrete examples of the application of these methods in IP research. This is achieved by discussing a recent project on TDM, which required the development of dedicated approaches in order to address certain problems that emerged during the project’s execution.. The discussion identifies some of the most promising advances in terms of automation and predictive analysis that the use of TDM in intellectual property research could enable. At the same time, the partial success of the experiment shows that there are a number of training and skill-related issues that legal researchers and practitioners interested in the use of TDM should consider. Accordingly, the second argument advanced in this chapter is that law school programmes should include mandatory courses in computational legal methods in order to equip future lawyers with the skillsets needed in the digital (legal) environment.

The Global South Debt Revolution That Wasn’t

In this article, we analyse how international crises and conflicts over sovereign debt have transformed the agenda of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Geneva-based organization founded in 1964 and whose history is closely linked to the G77 group of developing countries. We show how UNCTAD’s projects for structural reform of the international financial architecture were contested and ultimately rejected in the 1970s. Such defeats were a blow to the transformative goals that UNCTAD had initially set to achieve. In the 1980s, UNCTAD gradually became a technical agency and its mandate restricted to providing expert assistance and support to developing countries during their negotiations with the Paris Club. Meanwhile, the mandate to produce expertise at the macro level (the so-called ‘upstream’ area), was effectively transferred to the IMF and World Bank. With the development of the Debt Management Financial Analysis System (DMFAS), UNCTAD went from promoting systemic change in international financial architecture to sponsoring the micro-management of domestic policies as remedy to over-indebtedness. But we also show that UNCTAD did not always restrict itself to doing such ‘downstream’ work, i.e., improving debt issuing capacities and technologies of developing countries. While UNCTAD’s recent project on fair principles of lending and borrowing principles conforms to what’s expected from the group of advanced countries, another project involving the creation of an international mechanism of sovereign debt restructuring functioned as a disturbance to this fragile downstream–upstream division of labour between international organizations.

Introducing the Vienna Urban Carbon Laboratory (VUCL)

<p>The Vienna Urban Carbon Laboratory (VUCL) has begun testing in situ measurement-based options for monitoring local carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions in Austria’s capital city. Building upon the groundwork of the CarboWien project, VUCL extends and expands the current tall-tower eddy covariance flux system and will furthermore conduct campaigns to measure carbon isotopes and isofluxes, as well as upwind-downwind gradients in total column CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> mixing ratios. The project, which runs between 2021 and 2024 and is funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), will be implemented by a collaboration between the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Environment Agency Austria (EAA) and A1 Telekom Austria AG (A1). In addition to contributing to international research into measurement-based greenhouse gas emissions monitoring, the multi-method approach provides an opportunity to demonstrate measurement-based emissions monitoring options directly to Vienna’s civil servants responsible for climate change mitigation action in the city. Continuous local stakeholder engagement over the project duration is therefore planned.</p><p>This conference contribution to the WMO-IG3IS session at vEGU21 will allow VUCL to be introduced to relevant scientists and stakeholders in the international community. Given the recent project start (01 Feb 2021), the foreseen discussions on the project’s planned implementation will provide an important and timely input into VUCL. Finally, initial VUCL results will be presented together with data from the preceding CarboWien project (2018-2020) to show how the measured CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes in Vienna have been impacted by the lockdown restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

General Practice Registrars’ Management of and Specialist Referral Patterns for Atopic Dermatitis

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common presentation in the general practice (GP) setting. Implementation of appropriate referral pathways is instrumental for best patient care and is an essential skill for Australian GP registrars. Objectives: We aimed to explore the prevalence and associations of GP registrar referrals to specialists for AD management. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis utilizing data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) project, an ongoing cohort study that documents in-consultation clinical and educational experience of Australian GP registrars. Registrar, patient, and consultation factors associated with referrals for AD were established using logistic regression. Results: A A total of 3,285 (0.55%) of 595,412 diagnoses managed were AD, of which 222 (6.8%) resulted in referral. Of these referrals, 70% were to dermatologists, 17% to allergists/immunologists, and 10% to pediatricians. Associations of referral included registrar female gender, patient age, longer consultation duration; an established (rather than new) AD diagnosis; supervisor advice being sought; and learning goals being generated. Conclusions: Both registrar and patient factors influence AD referral patterns. Registrars referred established rather than newly diagnosed AD, suggesting a level of comfort in initial management. Referral was associated with longer consultations, seeking supervisor advice, and generation of learning goals—suggesting these are more complex presentations and, possibly, registrar learning opportunities. A significant proportion of referrals were to non-dermatologist specialists. The implication of this for optimal patient care is a subject for further study.

Hegel’s Kilogram: Taking the Measure of Metrical Units

While Chapter 4 pursues the ontological consequences of a shift from speculative idealism to speculative materialism, Chapter 5 engages the ontic scope of scientific practice in detail. I consider the recent project in scientific metrology to redefine the kilogram unit in terms of Hegel’s theory of measure, as the unity of quantity and quality. The chapter offers a detailed description of experimental approaches to redefining the kilogram, situating this project with respect to the history of the metric system.