Numerical Investigation of Tunnel Face Sability using Forepoling or Fiberglass Nails

Pre-support of tunnel excavation faces using fiberglass nails or forepoling umbrellas aims to improve face stability in cases where an unsupported excavation face will develop uncontrollably large face extrusion, leading to face instability. The paper presents the results of a large set of parametric 3D numerical analyses of tunnel face excavation by the Finite Element Code Simulia Abaqus, using various degrees of reinforcement by fiberglass nails or forepoling umbrellas. The analyses use the average face extrusion as a measure of face stability, considering that face instability is associated with large face extrusions while the safety factor against face instability can be correlated with lower face extrusions in case of pre-supported tunnel faces. The results of the analyses are normalized and a set of semi-empirical formulae and design graphs are produced to calculate the safety factor of supported tunnel faces against instability and other useful quantities in tunnel design (average face extrusion, volume loss and deconfinement coefficient) as a function of ground strength, overburden depth and amount of face reinforcement. The analyses show that tunnel face reinforcement with FG nails is much more effective and less costly in securing face stability than the use of forepoling umbrellas. It is shown that even a coarse grid of FG nails can achieve better results than very heavy forepoling, and the difference in effectiveness is more pronounced in weaker ground and or deeper tunnels.

Patient Safety of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: Evaluation of a Service Improvement Initiative

<b>Background </b><p>The safety of older adults with cognitive impairment is linked to falls and to aggressive incidents, therefore patient safety is an important aspect of care for this group of older adults. Environmental changes to create a more ‘dementia-friendly’ setting can create a safer space for patient care. The Kings Fund Healing the Healthy Environmental tool was used to make small changes to a ward environment. The changes included; large face clocks, identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusor, and viewing gardens, to improve patient safety. </p> <p>Research Objectives </p> -To assess the impact of environmental changes on patient reportable events (falls and aggression) in older persons’ wards, through a comparative analysis of incidents in the wards – one (Ward A) with environmental changes and the other (Ward B) with usual environment. -To obtain staff perspectives of the changes implemented in the service initiative. <b>Method </b><p>A practice-based impact evaluation using mixed methods was undertaken to evaluate the service initiative. The methods included an analysis of data from an established database that captured reported falls and aggressive behaviour (quantitative data), and a survey of healthcare staff about the effectiveness of environmental changes (qualitative data). </p> <b>Results </b><p>The results show that the environmental changes implemented through the service initiative reduced the number of reported falls and aggressive incidents in Ward A in the high visible room. Following the environmental change, the rate of falls per 100 nights in Ward A high visible room was 2.43 compared with a rate of 3.23 times in Ward B. The number of aggressive incidents was 10 in Ward A and 9 in Ward B. The survey findings indicated staff valued the environmental changes particularly the large face clocks. </p> <b>Conclusion </b><p>While the quantitative data results are not statistically significant the results indicate that the environmental changes implemented (large face clocks, identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusor, and viewing gardens) led to a lower number of reportable events for falls in Ward A. Any reduction in the numbers of falls and aggressive behaviour is clinically significant given the impact of such events on patient health and length of stay. The dementia-friendly environmental changes implemented were shown to be an effective service initiative. </p> <b>Clinical and research implications </b><p>Wards that cater for older people with cognitive impairment should consider implementing low-cost environmental changes such as introducing large face clocks, clear identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusors, and viewing gardens. Further research using a larger patient population (a longer time frame or several wards) is required to obtain an adequately powered study. </p>

Patient Safety of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: Evaluation of a Service Improvement Initiative

<b>Background </b><p>The safety of older adults with cognitive impairment is linked to falls and to aggressive incidents, therefore patient safety is an important aspect of care for this group of older adults. Environmental changes to create a more ‘dementia-friendly’ setting can create a safer space for patient care. The Kings Fund Healing the Healthy Environmental tool was used to make small changes to a ward environment. The changes included; large face clocks, identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusor, and viewing gardens, to improve patient safety. </p> <p>Research Objectives </p> -To assess the impact of environmental changes on patient reportable events (falls and aggression) in older persons’ wards, through a comparative analysis of incidents in the wards – one (Ward A) with environmental changes and the other (Ward B) with usual environment. -To obtain staff perspectives of the changes implemented in the service initiative. <b>Method </b><p>A practice-based impact evaluation using mixed methods was undertaken to evaluate the service initiative. The methods included an analysis of data from an established database that captured reported falls and aggressive behaviour (quantitative data), and a survey of healthcare staff about the effectiveness of environmental changes (qualitative data). </p> <b>Results </b><p>The results show that the environmental changes implemented through the service initiative reduced the number of reported falls and aggressive incidents in Ward A in the high visible room. Following the environmental change, the rate of falls per 100 nights in Ward A high visible room was 2.43 compared with a rate of 3.23 times in Ward B. The number of aggressive incidents was 10 in Ward A and 9 in Ward B. The survey findings indicated staff valued the environmental changes particularly the large face clocks. </p> <b>Conclusion </b><p>While the quantitative data results are not statistically significant the results indicate that the environmental changes implemented (large face clocks, identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusor, and viewing gardens) led to a lower number of reportable events for falls in Ward A. Any reduction in the numbers of falls and aggressive behaviour is clinically significant given the impact of such events on patient health and length of stay. The dementia-friendly environmental changes implemented were shown to be an effective service initiative. </p> <b>Clinical and research implications </b><p>Wards that cater for older people with cognitive impairment should consider implementing low-cost environmental changes such as introducing large face clocks, clear identification of bed spaces, lavender oil diffusors, and viewing gardens. Further research using a larger patient population (a longer time frame or several wards) is required to obtain an adequately powered study. </p>

Lecture rapture: The place and case for lectures in the new normal

Following the pivot to online teaching as a result of COVID-19, discussion has turned to how the “new normal” in higher education will look, in light of rapid changes and technological upskilling that have taken place across the sector. Amongst this discussion, there have been calls to abandon large face-to-face lectures. Here, we argue that traditional lectures and lecture recordings have a place in the new normal, and that arguments to abandon traditional lectures are as unhelpful as the view that they should be the default mode of teaching. When lectures are deliberately chosen as the most appropriate method of teaching and when the same pedagogical care and attention is given as to other modes of delivery, they provide an effective, pragmatic solution, particularly for large class sizes. Our response to the pivot should not be to abandon lectures but rather to critically reflect on their purpose and how we can maximise their potential.

Perceived Femininity and Masculinity Contribute Independently to Facial Impressions

In person perception research, femininity and masculinity are regularly conceived as two ends of one bipolar dimension. This unidimensional understanding permeates work on facial impressions, gender diagnosticity, and perceptions of LGBTQ individuals—but, it is perhaps most prominent in evolutionary work suggesting that sexually dimorphic facial features (which vary along a female–male continuum) correspond directly with subjective ratings of femininity and masculinity, which in turn predict ratings of traits such as attractiveness. In this paper, we analyze two large face databases (the Chicago and Bogazici Face Databases) to demonstrate that femininity and masculinity are distinct dimensions in person perception. We also evaluate key theoretical assumptions surrounding femininity and masculinity in evolutionary theories of face perception. We find that sexually dimorphic features weakly correlate with each other and typically explain just 10-20% of variance in subjective ratings of femininity and masculinity. Femininity and masculinity each explain unique variance in trait ratings of attractiveness, dominance, trustworthiness, and threat. Femininity and masculinity also interact to explain unique variance in these traits, revealing facial androgyny as a novel phenomenon. We propose a new theoretical model explaining the link between biology, facial features, perceived femininity and masculinity, and trait ratings. Our findings broadly suggest that concepts that are “opposites” semantically cannot necessarily be assumed to be psychological opposites.

The Enigma of Gülchatai’s Face or The Face of the Other

The article analyzes the problem of interpretation of the image of the Other through their Body. In modern society, the problem of denoting the Other is extremely important. Very often mass media resorts to the metonymy of the body for naming the Other, for example, "the face of Caucasian nationality". This usage of the word ‘face’ as a certain metaphor to describe the nationality depersonalize people. The usage of the metonymic method of pars pro toto indicates archaic nature of the notions related to the corporality of the Other. As an argument, the author quotes numerous examples of images of mythological heroes whose otherness is expressed through hypertrophied bodily parts, for instance a large face or a tremendous head. The article analyses the popular Soviet movie "The White Sun of the Desert", because this movie demonstrates in the best way the Soviet and post-Soviet pattern of Cultural Encounter. The astonishing popularity of the movie in the USSR shows that the representation of a face-to-face meeting with the Other that the movie offered was very close to the Soviet viewer. The author argues that Russian society still faces the challenge of rediscovering the dialogue of cultures instead of a monologue.

Big Choanae, Larger Face: Scaling Patterns Between Cranial Airways in Modern Humans and African Apes and Their Significance in Middle and Late Pleistocene Hominin Facial Evolution

This study aimed to understand the ontogenetic and allometric relationships in scaling between the anterior and posterior openings of the cranial airways and facial size, in order to shed light on the mechanisms that might underlie the evolution of a large face and large airways in Middle Pleistocene hominins and Neandertals. Sizes were calculated from 3D landmarks measured on the facial skeleton and airway structures of 403 skulls from two ontogenetic series of H. sapiens and P. troglodytes, an adult sample of gorillas and 11 Middle Pleistocene hominins and Neandertals. RMA regression models were used to compare the patterns in scaling between the anterior and posterior airways in relation to overall facial size. Our results show that the size of the anterior airways correlates more positively with facial size than the size of the posterior airways. This ontogenetic mechanism could explain the large faces and noses in the Neandertal lineage despite the adverse effects of such a phenotype for respiratory air-conditioning in cold climates. A large facial size could be a developmentally constrained consequence of generating airways large enough to provide the necessary oxygen for high energy demand in this large-brained and heavy-bodied hominin lineage.