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In this article, we outline a demonstration that is relatively simple to perform but whose results require a quite subtle interpretation of Faraday's Law. When a very small magnet is dropped through a coil it can tumble as it falls leading to 'spikes' in the measured emf signal. The experiment, and demonstration, can be used in an introductory laboratory module and our early evidence suggests it is useful in teaching electromagnetic induction as a covariational relation between magnetic flux and time, and particularly useful as a demonstration of EMF induced by a 'swept area'.

Background: Tocilizumab is an interleukin-6 inhibitor that reduces mortality and the need for invasive mechanical ventilation, while increasing the possibility of successful hospital discharge for hyperinflammatory patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). No increase in adverse events or serious infections has been reported previously.Aim: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 in critical care who received tocilizumab, and to compare mortality and length of hospital stay for patients who received tocilizumab (N=41) with those who did not (N=33).Methods: Retrospective review of data related to patients with COVID-19 who received tocilizumab in a critical care setting from 1st January to 31st December 2021.Findings: Amongst COVID-19 survivors, those who had received tocilizumab had longer intensive care unit (ICU) stays (median length 21 vs 9 days) and hospital stays (45 vs 34 days) compared with those who had not received tocilizumab. Thirty-day mortality (29% vs 36%; P=0.5196) and 60-day mortality (37% and 42%; P=0.6138) were not significantly lower in patients who received tocilizumab. Serious bacterial and fungal infections occurred at higher frequency amongst patients who received tocilizumab [odds ratio (OR) 2.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-6.86; P=0.042], and at significantly higher frequency than in non-COVID-19 ICU admissions (OR 5.26, 95% CI 3.08-9.00; P<0.0001).Conclusions: In this single-centre study, patients in critical care with severe COVID-19 who received tocilizumab had a greater number of serious bacterial and fungal infections, but this may not have been a direct effect of tocilizumab treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder whose clinical symptoms and treatment outcome are correlated with patient age. In Wilkie et al. (2010, A theoretical study of the effect of intraventricular pulsations on the pathogenesis of hydrocephalus. Appl. Math. Comput., 215, 3181–3191), the fractional Zener model was used to investigate the role of cerebrospinal fluid pressure pulsations in the development of hydrocephalus in infants and adults. In this paper, we determine the mechanical parameters of the fractional Zener model for the infant and adult brains using age-dependent shear complex modulus data (Thibault, K. L. & Margulies, S. S. (1998) Age-dependent material properties of the porcine cerebrum: effect on pediatric inertial head injury criteria. J. Biomech., 31, 1119–1126). The displacement of brain tissue under conditions representing the onset of hydrocephalus are then calculated. The infant brain was found to produce tissue displacements that are unphysical for our model geometry and a new boundary condition is proposed to replace the stress-free outer boundary condition used in Wilkie et al. (2010). The steadystate elastic modulus is identified as the parameter of interest in the development of hydrocephalus: it is found to increase from the infant value of 621 Pa to the young adult value of 955 Pa and we hypothesize that it then decreases with age. The low steady-state elastic modulus of the infant brain (and possibly the aged brain) increases the tissue's susceptibility to large deformations and thus to the ventricular expansion characteristic of hydrocephalus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives. To compare mean angles of anterior pelvic tilt (APT) and variability of APT angles in elite cyclists and matched non-cyclists.Design. Observation, cross-sectional, matched pairs.Participants: Seventeen elite cyclists Australian Institute of Sport Track Cycling Squad (AISTCS) (23 +/- 4.2 years, 15 males) age and gender matched with 17 non-cyclists (23 +/- 4.1 years, 15 males).Setting: Laboratory within the University of South Australia. The APT was assessed in long-sitting position with chest as close to thighs as voluntarily possible and measured using a digital inclinometer over L5-S1 intervertebral space.Main outcome measures: APT in elite and non-cyclists. Unpaired t-tests and F-tests were used to analyze difference and variability of APT angles between groups with p