Families' perceived benefits of home visits for managing paediatric obesity outweigh the potential costs and barriers.

AIM: Home visits have successfully been used to deliver various health services, but what role could they play in paediatric weight management? Low treatment initiation and high attrition prompted our multidisciplinary paediatric weight management clinic to investigate how families perceived the benefits and barriers of home visits. METHODS: We focused on children with obesity aged 2-17 who were enrolled in our tertiary-level clinic in Alberta, Canada. None had received a home visit. The families were interviewed face-to-face from October 2015 to October 2016, and we used a qualitative description methodological framework and manifest content analysis. The parents were the main interviewees. RESULTS: Of the 56 families, 89% were interested in a home visit, 82% wanted support from a dietician and 54% from an exercise specialist. The perceived benefits of home visits included comprehensive assessment (95%), convenience (86%), tailored care (29%) and family involvement (13%), while the costs and barriers included clinicians' potential judgmental attitudes (30%), loss of privacy (19%) and distractions (10%). Some thought clinicians would find home visits inconvenient (25%), with bureaucratic challenges (14%) and sustainability issues (5%). CONCLUSION: Families felt home visits were a convenient option for managing paediatric obesity and identified important benefits and barriers that could guide such interventions.

Comparison of lightweight and traditional figure skating blades, a prototype blade with integrated damping system and a running shoe in simulated figure skating landings and vertical countermovement jumps, and evaluation of dampening properties of the prototype blade.

To date, there is no empirical evidence suggesting greater jump heights or cushioned landings when using figure skating (FS) blades of different mass and design. This study examined the effect of lightweight (Gold Seal Revolution from John Wilson) and traditional (Apex Supreme from Jackson Ultima and Volant from Riedell) blades, a new prototype blade with an integrated damping system (damping blade) in two different damping configurations, and running shoes (Runfalcon from Adidas) on kinetics and kinematics during simulated on-ice landings from 0.6 m and maximal countermovement jumps on synthetic ice, and measured dampening properties of the damping blade. Seventeen participants executed trials in the six footwear conditions blinded to the different blades and acted as their own control for statistical comparison. There were no differences between the lightweight and traditional blades on the maximal vertical ground reaction force during the landing. Image analysis showed a damping effect in the damping blade that significantly decreased the landing load for all participants (mean 4.38 ± 0.68 bodyweight) (p ≤ 0.006), on average between 10.1 and 14.3% compared to lightweight and traditional blades (4.87 ± 1.01 to 5.11 ± 0.88 bodyweight). The maximal jump height achieved was the same in all FS blades.

Utilization of Low-Dose Naltrexone for Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Case Report.

Burning mouth syndrome is a chronic pain condition characterized by a burning sensation of the oropharynx. The pathophysiology of burning mouth syndrome includes peripheral and central sensitization. Treatment is generally aimed at symptom reduction. We describe a woman in her seventh decade with burning mouth syndrome that had been refractory to treatment for nearly a decade. Low-dose naltrexone has been reported to provide analgesia in central sensitization states and was successful in reducing pain severity in our patient. We conclude that low-dose naltrexone may be a therapeutic option for patients with burning mouth syndrome who are refractory to conventional therapies.

Quantum dot fluorescence quenching pathways with Cr(III) complexes. photosensitized NO production from trans-Cr(cyclam)(ONO)2+.

Described is the photoluminescence (PL) of water-soluble CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) as perturbed by salts of the chromium(III) complexes trans-Cr(cyclam)Cl2+ (1), trans-Cr(cyclam)(ONO)2+ (2), and trans-Cr(cyclam)(CN)2+ (3) (cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclo-tetradecane). The purpose is to probe the characteristics of such QDs as antennae for photosensitized release of bioactive agents (in the present case, the bioregulatory molecule NO) from transition metal centers. Addition of 1 or 2 to a QD solution results in concentration-dependent quenching of the band edge emission, but 3 has a minimal effect. Added KCl strongly attenuates the quenching by 1, and this suggests that the Cr(III) cations and the QDs form electrostatic assemblies via ion pairing on the negatively charged QD surfaces. Quenching by 2, a known photochemical NO precursor, was accompanied by photosensitized NO release. All three, however, do quench the broad red emission ( approximately 650-850 nm) attributed to radiative decay of surface trapped carriers. The effect of various concentrations of 1 on time-resolved PL and absorbance were explored using ultrafast spectroscopic methods. These observations are interpreted in terms of the Förster resonance energy-transfer mechanism for quenching of the band edge PL by multiple units of 1 or 2 at the QD surface, whereas quenching of the low-energy trap emission occurs via a charge-transfer pathway.

Automatic temperature controller for multielement array hyperthermia systems.

This paper concerns the optimization and performance analysis of an automatic control algorithm for managing power output of large multielement array hyperthermia applicators. Simulation and corresponding measurement of controller performance in a solid tissue equivalent phantom model is utilized for analysis of controller response to dynamically varying thermal load conditions that simulate clinical treatments. The analysis leads to an optimum controller which demonstrates the ability to achieve a uniform and stable temperature profile over a large surface area regardless of surrounding thermal load. This paper presents several advancements to the performance of a previously published control routine, including: 1) simplified simulation techniques for thorough characterization of controller performance; 2) an optimization procedure leading to an improved hybrid control algorithm for maintaining optimal performance during periods of both "rising" and "steady-state" temperature; 3) performance analysis of a control algorithm tailored for large area hyperthermia treatments with a mulitelement array applicator. The optimized hybrid controller is applied to the conformal microwave array (CMA) hyperthermia system previously developed for heating large area surface disease such as diffuse chestwall recurrence of breast carcinoma, and shown to produce stable, uniform temperatures under the multielement array applicator for all thermal load conditions.

Optimization of a dual concentric conductor antenna for superficial hyperthermia applications.

Dual concentric conductor antennas (DCCs) have been proposed as effective radiators for microwave hyperthermia applications, due to simplicity of construction from flexible printed circuit board (PCB) material. With proper design, the power deposition (SAR) pattern is uniform across the DCC. The effect of a single antenna can be combined in conformal nonphased arrays to form a region of nearly flat temperature distribution over a large area down to 1-1.5 cm depth. In the past, DCC antenna performance was analyzed using in-house FDTD software. Recently available electromagnetic simulation software provides reduced simulation time, increased accuracy and a user friendly interface with the ability to sweep design parameters to achieve critical optimization goals. More detail on antenna loading conditions provides enhanced design accuracy by accounting for second order effects neglected in previous modeling. In particular, recent design efforts have focused on improving antenna efficiency and reducing losses and reflections in the feedline network. A second challenge involves measurement of antenna properties in conditions more similar to the treatment environment, since temperature and loading condition affect antenna radiation and thus design requirements. We present the challenges of both antenna design and characterization, along with preliminary results of recent design improvements.