Telephoto lens view of Silver Spur in the Hadley Delta region from Apollo 15

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

A telephoto lens view of the prominent feature called Silver Spur in the Hadley Delta region, photographed during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The distance from the camera to the spur is about 10 miles. The field of view across the bottom is about one mile. Structural formations in the mountain are clearly visible. There are two major units. The upper unit is characterized by massive subunits, each one of which is approximately 200 feet deep. The lower major unit is characterized by thinner bedding and cross bedding.

Spanning the Pacific Ocean through Voice-Over Internet Protocol Chat with the Hadley School for the Blind--China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilson, Christie L.; Rongqiang, Xia

2007-01-01

Founded in 1920, the Hadley School for the Blind is known worldwide for its tuition-free distance-education courses for people who are visually impaired. Hadley's main school in the United States serves more than 9,000 students, and the overseas school in the People's Republic of China provides vital educational services to more than 1,000 Chinese…

Telephoto lens view of Silver Spur in the Hadley Delta region from Apollo 15

NASA Image and Video Library

1971-07-31

AS15-84-11250 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- A telephoto lens view of the prominent feature called Silver Spur in the Hadley Delta region, photographed during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The distance from the camera to the spur is about 10 miles. The field of view across the bottom is about one mile. Structural formations in the mountain are clearly visible. There are two major units. The upper unit is characterized by massive subunits, each one of which is approximately 200 feet deep. The lower major unit is characterized by thinner bedding and cross bedding.

Possible Role of Hadley Circulation Strengthening in Interdecadal Intensification of Snowfalls Over Northeastern China Under Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Botao; Wang, Zunya; Shi, Ying

2017-11-01

This article revealed that strengthening of winter Hadley circulation in the context of climate change may partially contribute to interdecadal increasing of snowfall intensity over northeastern China in recent decades. This hypothesis is well supported by the process-based linkage between Hadley circulation and atmospheric circulations over the Asian-Pacific region on the interdecadal time scale. The strengthening of winter Hadley circulation corresponds to a weakening of the Siberian high, an eastward shifting of the Aleutian low, a reduction of the East Asian trough, and anomalous southwesterly prevailing over northeastern China. These atmospheric situations weaken the East Asian winter monsoon and lead to an increase of air temperature over northeastern China. Increased local evaporation due to the increase of air temperature, concurrent with more water vapor transported from the Pacific Ocean, can significantly enhance atmospheric water vapor content in the target region. Meanwhile, the ascending of airflows is also strengthened over northeastern China. All of these provide favorable interdecadal backgrounds for the occurrence of intense snowfalls, and thus, snowfall intensity is intensified over northeastern China after the 1980s. Further analysis suggests that the circum-Pacific-like teleconnection pattern may play an important role in connecting Hadley circulation strengthening signal and atmospheric circulation anomalies favoring interdecadal intensification of snowfalls over northeastern China.

Squaraine dyes as efficient coupling bridges between triarylamine redox centres.

PubMed

Völker, Sebastian F; Renz, Manuel; Kaupp, Martin; Lambert, Christoph

2011-12-09

Various indolenine squarylium dyes with additional electron-donating amine redox centres have been synthesised and their redox chemistry has been studied. A combination of cyclic voltammetry, spectro-electrochemistry and DFT calculations has been used to characterise the electronic structure of the mono-, di- and, in one case, trications. All monocations still retain the cyanine-like, delocalised character due to the relatively low redox potential of the squaraine bridge and are therefore compounds of Robin-Day class III. Thus we extended previous studies on organic mixed-valence systems by using the indolenine squaraine moiety as very electron-rich bridge between two electron-donating amine redox centres to provoke a strong coupling between the additional redox centres. We synthesised TA3, which has an N-N distance of 26 bonds between the triarylamine redox centres and is to our knowledge the longest bis(triarylamine) radical cation that is completely delocalised. We furthermore show that altering the symmetry of a squaraine dye by substitution of a squaric ring oxygen atom by a dicyanomethylene group has a direct impact on the optical properties of the monocations. In case of the dications, it turned out that the energetically most stable state of dianisylamine-substituted squaraines is an anti-ferromagnetically coupled open-shell singlet state. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Artist's concept of Hadley-Apennine landing site with LRV traverses outlined

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

An artist's concept of the Hadley-Apennine landing site, depicting the traverses planned on the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission using the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The Roman numerals indicate the three periods of extravehicular activity (EVA). The Arabic numbers represent the station stops. Art work by Jerry Elmore.

The dynamics of the Snowball Earth Hadley circulation for off-equatorial and seasonally varying insolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voigt, A.

2013-11-01

I study the Hadley circulation of a completely ice-covered Snowball Earth through simulations with a comprehensive atmosphere general circulation model. Because the Snowball Earth atmosphere is an example of a dry atmosphere, these simulations allow me to test to what extent dry theories and idealized models capture the dynamics of realistic dry Hadley circulations. Perpetual off-equatorial as well as seasonally varying insolation is used, extending a previous study for perpetual on-equatorial (equinox) insolation. Vertical diffusion of momentum, representing the momentum transport of dry convection, is fundamental to the momentum budgets of both the winter and summer cells. In the zonal budget, it is the primary process balancing the Coriolis force. In the meridional budget, it mixes meridional momentum between the upper and the lower branch and thereby decelerates the circulation. Because of the latter, the circulation intensifies by a factor of three when vertical diffusion of momentum is suppressed. For seasonally varying insolation, the circulation undergoes rapid transitions from the weak summer into the strong winter regime. Consistent with previous studies in idealized models, these transitions result from a mean-flow feedback, because of which they are insensitive to the treatment of vertical diffusion of momentum. Overall, the results corroborate previous findings for perpetual on-equatorial insolation. They demonstrate that descriptions of realistic dry Hadley circulations, in particular their strength, need to incorporate the vertical momentum transport by dry convection, a process that is neglected in most dry theories and idealized models. An improved estimate of the strength of the Snowball Earth Hadley circulation will also help to better constrain the climate of a possible Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth and its deglaciation threshold.

The dynamics of the Snowball Earth Hadley circulation for off-equatorial and seasonally-varying insolation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voigt, A.

2013-08-01

I study the Hadley circulation of a completely ice-covered Snowball Earth through simulations with a comprehensive atmosphere general circulation model. Because the Snowball Earth atmosphere is an example of a dry atmosphere, these simulations allow me to test to what extent dry theories and idealized models capture the dynamics of dry Hadley circulations. Perpetual off-equatorial as well as seasonally-varying insolation is used, extending a previous study for perpetual on-equatorial (equinox) insolation. Vertical diffusion of momentum, representing the momentum transport of dry convection, is fundamental to the momentum budgets of both the winter and summer cells. In the zonal budget, it is the primary process balancing the Coriolis force. In the meridional budget, it mixes meridional momentum between the upper and the lower branch and thereby decelerates the circulation. Because of the latter, the circulation intensifies by a factor of three when vertical diffusion of momentum is suppressed. For seasonally-varying insolation, the circulation undergoes rapid transitions from the weak summer into the strong winter regime. Consistent with previous studies in idealized models, these transitions result from a mean-flow feedback, because of which they are insensitive to the treatment of vertical diffusion of momentum. Overall, the results corroborate previous findings for perpetual on-equatorial insolation. They demonstrate that an appropriate description of dry Hadley circulations, in particular their strength, needs to incorporate the vertical momentum transport by dry convection, a process that is neglected in most dry theories and idealized models. An improved estimate of the strength of the Snowball Earth Hadley circulation will also help to better constrain the climate of a possible Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth and its deglaciation threshold.

Predictions of extreme precipitation and sea-level rise under climate change.

PubMed

Senior, C A; Jones, R G; Lowe, J A; Durman, C F; Hudson, D

2002-07-15

Two aspects of global climate change are particularly relevant to river and coastal flooding: changes in extreme precipitation and changes in sea level. In this paper we summarize the relevant findings of the IPCC Third Assessment Report and illustrate some of the common results found by the current generation of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs), using the Hadley Centre models. Projections of changes in extreme precipitation, sea-level rise and storm surges affecting the UK will be shown from the Hadley Centre regional models and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory storm-surge model. A common finding from AOGCMs is that in a warmer climate the intensity of precipitation will increase due to a more intense hydrological cycle. This leads to reduced return periods (i.e. more frequent occurrences) of extreme precipitation in many locations. The Hadley Centre regional model simulates reduced return periods of extreme precipitation in a number of flood-sensitive areas of the UK. In addition, simulated changes in storminess and a rise in average sea level around the UK lead to reduced return periods of extreme high coastal water events. The confidence in all these results is limited by poor spatial resolution in global coupled models and by uncertainties in the physical processes in both global and regional models, and is specific to the climate change scenario used.

The formation of Hadley Rille and implications for the geology of the Apollo 15 region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spudis, Paul D.; Swann, Gordon A.; Greeley, Ronald

1988-01-01

The results of studies of terrestrial lava tube systems and the regional and detailed site geology of the Apollo 15 area have been combined to develop a model for the formation of Hadley Rille. The regional geology of the Apennine bench formation and its relation to Mozart and Hadley Rilles is discussed. It is shown that the total thickness of mare basalt at the Apollo landing site is on the order of a few tens of meters, mostly less than 50 m. It is suggested that the role of thermal erosion in the development of sinuous rilles on the moon may be less important than previously assumed and that the assimilation of refractory highland rock types into mare basaltic magma is a minor lunar process.

View of Commemorative plaque left on moon at Hadley-Apennine landing site

NASA Image and Video Library

1971-08-01

AS15-88-11894 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- A close-up view of a commemorative plaque left on the moon at the Hadley-Apennine landing site in memory of 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts, now deceased. Their names are inscribed in alphabetical order on the plaque. The plaque was stuck in the lunar soil by astronauts David R. Scott, commander, and James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, during their Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA). The names on the plaque are Charles A. Bassett II, Pavel I. Belyayev, Roger B. Chaffee, Georgi Dobrovolsky, Theodore C. Freeman, Yuri A. Gagarin, Edward G. Givens Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, Vladimir Komarov, Viktor Patsayev, Elliot M. See Jr., Vladislav Volkov, Edward H. White II, and Clifton C. Williams Jr. The tiny, man-like object represents the figure of a fallen astronaut/cosmonaut. While astronauts Scott and Irwin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Falcon" to explore the Hadley-Apennine area of the moon, astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit.

The Interplay of Internal and Forced Modes of Hadley Cell Expansion: Lessons from the Global Warming Hiatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amaya, D. J.; Siler, N.; Xie, S. P.; Miller, A. J.

2017-12-01

The poleward branches of the Hadley Cells show a robust shift poleward shift during the satellite era, leading to concerns over the possible encroachment of the globe's subtropical dry zones into currently temperate climates. The extent to which this trend is caused by anthropogenic forcing versus internal variability remains the subject of considerable debate. In this study, we us a joint EOF method to identify two distinct modes of Hadley Cell variability: (i) an anthropogenically-forced mode, which we identify using a 20-member simulation of the historical climate, and (ii) an internal mode, which identify using a 1000-year pre-industrial control simulation with a global climate model. The forced mode is found to be closely related to the TOA radiative imbalance and exhibits a long-term trend since 1860, while the internal mode is found to be essentially indistinguishable from the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Together these two modes explain an average of 70% of the interannual variability seen in model "edge indices" over the historical period. Since 1980, the superposition of forced and internal modes has resulted in a period of accelerated Hadley Cell expansion and decelerated global warming (i.e., the "hiatus"). A comparison of the change in these modes since 1980 indicates that by 2013 the signal has emerged above the noise of internal variability in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), but not in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), with the latter also exhibiting strong zonal asymmetry, particularly in the North Atlantic. Our results highlight the important interplay of internal and forced modes of Hadley Cell width change and improve our understanding of the interannual variability and long-term trend seen in observations.

Coherent centres for light amplification in coupled waveguide arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tripathi, Aditya; Kumar, Sunil

2018-07-01

In the study of optical lattices of waveguides, incorporation of nearest neighbour coupling and controllable nonlinearity can result in many interesting phenomena such as discrete diffraction, Anderson localization, diffusive transport, self-defocusing, discrete spatial solitons and discrete photonic resonances. The question of reflecting boundaries at the surfaces has been ignored most often. In the present study, we have shown through a simple one-dimensional waveguide array that light propagation gets completely modified along the length if effects from reflecting boundaries are also considered. We have shown only by considering the coupling on between neighbouring waveguides that there are periodic maximum power centres along the length of the excited waveguides which can be desirable for placing optical amplifiers in short or long distance communication and other applications.

The Influence of the Regional Hadley and Walker Circulations on Precipitation Patterns over Africa in El Niño, La Niña, and Neutral Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Oliveira, Cristiano Prestrelo; Aímola, Luis; Ambrizzi, Tércio; Freitas, Ana Carolina Vasques

2018-02-01

This study focuses on the differential impacts of the positive (El Niño), negative (La Niña), and neutral phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on precipitation over Africa during DJF and JJA, evaluated through changes in the regional Hadley and Walker Circulations. Identification of the Hadley and Walker Cells was done using stream function mass transport calculations of ERA-Interim reanalysis data from 1979 to 2014. Analysis of the spatial pattern of precipitation anomalies shows that during DJF, El Niño (La Niña) negatively (positively) impacts precipitation over the African continent. During JJA, El Niño (La Niña) influences precipitation variability over the Sahel region, producing positive (negative) anomalies. Negative precipitation anomalies associated with El Niño (DJF) over southern Africa are linked to a strengthening in subsidence of the descending branch of the regional Hadley Cell, and during JJA the negative precipitation anomalies over the Sahel are associated with a weakening of the ascending branch of the regional Hadley Cell. During La Niña events in DJF, there is a tendency toward increased convection in southern Africa, associated with a stronger ascending branch and weaker descending branch of the regional Hadley Cell. During La Niña events in JJA, positive precipitation anomalies over the Sahel are associated with an intensification of the ascending branch of the regional Hadley Cell north of the equator.

Analysis of bullwhip effect on supply chain with Q model using Hadley-Within approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siregar, I.; Nasution, A. A.; Matondang, N.; Persada, M. R.; Syahputri, K.

2018-02-01

This research held on a tapioca flour industry company that uses cassava as raw material to produce tapioca starch product. Problems that occur in this company is inaccurate planning, consequently there is a shortage of variation between the number of requests with the total supply is met, so it is necessary to do research with the formulation of the problem that is how to analyze the Bullwhip Effect on the supply chain using Q model through Hadley-Within approach so as not to disturb the product distribution system at the company. Product distribution system at the company, obtained by the number of requests. The 2015 forecast result is lower than actual demand for distributors and manufactures in 2016 with average percentage difference for Supermarket A distributor, Supermarket B and manufacturing respectively 38.24%, 89.57% and 43.11%. The occurrence of information distortion to the demand of this product can identify the existence of bullwhip effect on the supply chain. The proposed improvement to overcome the bullwhip effect is by doing inventory control policy with Q model using Hadley-Within approach.

Compositional variation in the Hadley Apennine region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, P. E.; Hawke, B. R.

1982-01-01

Orbital geochemical data in the Hadley Apennine region are related to typical rock compositions and used in determining the distribution of soils derived from the rock types found in this region. Orbital XRF Mg/Si and Al/Si intensities are the orbital data that are used primarily. These data are corrected for spurious interorbit variation using a modification of a previously developed method. The corrected values are than converted to % MgO and % Al2O3, respectively, from theoretical considerations, and as such are compared with similar concentrations for typical lunar rocks and soils of the Apollo 15 landing site. The relationship of the XRF values to Fe, Ti, and Th concentrations, derived from gamma-ray observations, is also considered. It is established that the orbital geochemistry data for this region are consistent with the presence of a mixture of ANT suite and Fra Mauro basalt components frequently dominated by a KREEP basalt component toward the west and by a mafic pyroclastic component toward the east.

View of Commemorative plaque left on moon at Hadley-Apennine landing site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

A close-up view of a commemorative plaque left on the Moon at the Hadley-Apennine landing site in memory of 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts, now deceased. Their names are inscribed in alphabetical order on the plaque. The plaque was stuck in the lunar soil by Astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin during their Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity. The tin, man-like object represents the figure of a fallen astronaut/cosmonaut.

Decadal-timescale changes of the Atlantic overturning circulation and climate in a coupled climate model with a hybrid-coordinate ocean component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persechino, A.; Marsh, R.; Sinha, B.; Megann, A. P.; Blaker, A. T.; New, A. L.

2012-08-01

A wide range of statistical tools is used to investigate the decadal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and associated key variables in a climate model (CHIME, Coupled Hadley-Isopycnic Model Experiment), which features a novel ocean component. CHIME is as similar as possible to the 3rd Hadley Centre Coupled Model (HadCM3) with the important exception that its ocean component is based on a hybrid vertical coordinate. Power spectral analysis reveals enhanced AMOC variability for periods in the range 15-30 years. Strong AMOC conditions are associated with: (1) a Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomaly pattern reminiscent of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) response, but associated with variations in a northern tropical-subtropical gradient; (2) a Surface Air Temperature anomaly pattern closely linked to SST; (3) a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)-like pattern; (4) a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The primary mode of AMOC variability is associated with decadal changes in the Labrador Sea and the Greenland Iceland Norwegian (GIN) Seas, in both cases linked to the tropical activity about 15 years earlier. These decadal changes are controlled by the low-frequency NAO that may be associated with a rapid atmospheric teleconnection from the tropics to the extratropics. Poleward advection of salinity anomalies in the mixed layer also leads to AMOC changes that are linked to processes in the Labrador Sea. A secondary mode of AMOC variability is associated with interannual changes in the Labrador and GIN Seas, through the impact of the NAO on local surface density.

Evidence for Interannual to Decadal Variations in Hadley and Walker Circulations and Links to Water and Energy Fluxes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Franklin; Bosilovich, Michael; Miller, Timothy

2007-01-01

Mass and energy transports associated with the Hadley and Walker circulations are important components of the earth s climate system and are strongly linked to hydrologic processes. Interannual to decadal variation in these flows likely signify a combination of natural climate noise as well as a response to anthropgenic forcing. There remains considerable uncertainty in quantifying variations in these flows. Evidence in the surface pressure record supports a weakening of the Walker circulation over the Pacific in recent decades. Conversely the NCEP / NCAR and ERA 40 reanalyses indicate that the Hadley circulation has increased in strength over the last two decades, though these analyses depict significantly different mass circulation changes. Interestingly, the NCEP - II / DOE reanalysis contains essentially no Hadley circulation changes. Most climate model integrations anticipate a weakening of both tropical circulations associated with stronger static stability. Clearly there is much uncertainty not only with the mass transports, but also how they are linked to water and energy balance of the planet through variations in turbulent heat and radiative fluxes and horizontal exports / imports of energy. Here we examine heat and water budget variations from a number of reanalysis products and focus on the linear and nonlinear response of ENSO warm and cold events as opportunities to study budget variations over the past 15-20 years. Our analysis addresses such questions as To what extent do Hadley and Walker Cell variations compensate each other on mass and energy transport? Do static stability adjustments appear to constrain fractional precipitation response vs. fractional water vapor response? We appeal to constraints offered by GPCP precipitation, SSWI ocean evaporation estimates, and ISCCP-FD radiative fluxes, and other satellite data sets to interpret and confirm reanalysis-based diagnostics. Using our findings we also attempt to place in context the recent

Now, Here's the Weather Forecast...

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Mathew

2013-01-01

The Met Office has a long history of weather forecasting, creating tailored weather forecasts for customers across the world. Based in Exeter, the Met Office is also home to the Met Office Hadley Centre, a world-leading centre for the study of climate change and its potential impacts. Climate information from the Met Office Hadley Centre is used…

On the role of precipitation latent heating in modulating the strength and width of the Hadley circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathew, Sneha Susan; Kumar, Karanam Kishore

2018-05-01

The latent heat released in the clouds over the tropics plays a vital role in driving the Hadley circulation (HC). The present study discusses the influence of latent heating (LH) on the HC parameters viz., centre, strength and total width by using precipitation LH profiles derived from the space-borne observations of the Precipitation Radar (PR) onboard Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) and meridional stream function (MSF) derived from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis. The latitude of peak latent heating, width of the latent heating distribution and the total LH released within the ascending limb of the HC are estimated and their influence on the HC centre, strength and width is quantified, for the first time. The present results show that the latitude of peak LH significantly influences the position of the HC centre with correlation coefficient of 0.90. This high correlation between these two quantities seems to be due to their co-variability with the apparent motion of the Sun across the latitudes. The intensity of the HC in the NH as well as SH shows high correlation with the latitude of peak LH with coefficients - 0.85 and - 0.78, respectively. These results indicate that farther the latitude of peak LH from the equator in the summer hemisphere, stronger is the HC intensity in the winter hemisphere. The present analysis also reveals that the total LH released within the ascending limb of HC substantially influence the total width of the HC, with correlation coefficient 0.52, as compared to the other two LH parameters. This observation can be attributed to the fact that the HC is sensitive to the latent heat release in the mid-tropospheric levels in the tropics. An attempt is also made to investigate the degree of variability of these parameters after deseasonalization and results are discussed in the light of present understanding. The significance of the present study lies in providing the observational evidence for the influence of latent heating on the HC

Acidification at the Surface in the East Sea: A Coupled Climate-carbon Cycle Model Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Young-Gyu; Seol, Kyung-Hee; Boo, Kyung-On; Lee, Johan; Cho, Chunho; Byun, Young-Hwa; Seo, Seongbong

2018-05-01

This modeling study investigates the impacts of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration on acidification in the East Sea. A historical simulation for the past three decades (1980 to 2010) was performed using the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model (version 2), a coupled climate model with atmospheric, terrestrial and ocean cycles. As the atmospheric CO2 concentration increased, acidification progressed in the surface waters of the marginal sea. The acidification was similar in magnitude to observations and models of acidification in the global ocean. However, in the global ocean, the acidification appears to be due to increased in-situ oceanic CO2 uptake, whereas local processes had stronger effects in the East Sea. pH was lowered by surface warming and by the influx of water with higher dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the northwestern Pacific. Due to the enhanced advection of DIC, the partial pressure of CO2 increased faster than in the overlying air; consequently, the in-situ oceanic uptake of CO2 decreased.

CMIP5 models' shortwave cloud radiative response and climate sensitivity linked to the climatological Hadley cell extent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipat, Bernard R.; Tselioudis, George; Grise, Kevin M.; Polvani, Lorenzo M.

2017-06-01

This study analyzes Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) model output to examine the covariability of interannual Southern Hemisphere Hadley cell (HC) edge latitude shifts and shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE). In control climate runs, during years when the HC edge is anomalously poleward, most models substantially reduce the shortwave radiation reflected by clouds in the lower midlatitude region (LML; ˜28°S-˜48°S), although no such reduction is seen in observations. These biases in HC-SWCRE covariability are linked to biases in the climatological HC extent. Notably, models with excessively equatorward climatological HC extents have weaker climatological LML subsidence and exhibit larger increases in LML subsidence with poleward HC edge expansion. This behavior, based on control climate interannual variability, has important implications for the CO2-forced model response. In 4×CO2-forced runs, models with excessively equatorward climatological HC extents produce stronger SW cloud radiative warming in the LML region and tend to have larger climate sensitivity values than models with more realistic climatological HC extents.

A review of couple-centred interventions in dementia: Exploring the what and why - Part A.

PubMed

Bielsten, Therése; Hellström, Ingrid

2017-01-01

Introduction Symptoms of dementia bring about challenges to couples' relationships. Relationship-focused support has been highlighted to be of significant importance for sustained relationship quality and to reduce the negative impact of dementia on the dyadic relationship. This review aimed to explore the 'what' and 'why' of interventions aimed at couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia and in which the couple jointly participate. Method Searches were performed in Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from January 2000 to August 2017. Results Six studies were included. Objectives for the person with dementia was related to cognitive function and for the care partner the objectives were related to well-being. The majority of the outcomes were mirrored by the objectives and focused on cognitive function for people with dementia and depression and relationship quality for care partners. Our findings indicate that people with dementia should be included in the assessment of the relationship in order to gain an overall picture of relationship dynamics and to increase tailored support in couple-centred interventions. Conclusions The findings of this review indicate that joint interventions for people with dementia and care partners are lacking a genuine dyadic approach where both partners' views of their relationship are valued. In order to identify targets for support and to use the appropriate outcome measures, the quality of the relationship should be recognised and taken into account. Moreover, there is a lack of a salutogenic approach in couple-centred interventions in which couples' strengths and resources can be identified and supported.

Determination of platinum surface contamination in veterinary and human oncology centres using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Janssens, T; Brouwers, E E M; de Vos, J P; de Vries, N; Schellens, J H M; Beijnen, J H

2015-09-01

The objective of this study was to determine the surface contamination with platinum-containing antineoplastic drugs in veterinary and human oncology centres. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to measure platinum levels in surface samples. In veterinary and human oncology centres, 46.3 and 68.9% of the sampled surfaces demonstrated platinum contamination, respectively. Highest platinum levels were found in the preparation rooms (44.6 pg cm(-2)) in veterinary centres, while maximal levels in human centres were found in oncology patient-only toilets (725 pg cm(-2)). Transference of platinum by workers outside areas where antineoplastic drugs were handled was observed in veterinary and human oncology centres. In conclusion, only low levels of platinum contamination attributable to carboplatin were found in the sampled veterinary oncology centres. However, dispersion of platinum outside areas where antineoplastic drugs were handled was detected in veterinary and human oncology centres. Consequently, not only personnel, but also others may be exposed to platinum. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Trends and variability in the Hadley circulation over the Last Millennium from the proxy record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horlick, K. A.; Noone, D.; Hakim, G. J.; Tardif, R.; Anderson, D. M.; Perkins, W. A.; Erb, M. P.; Steig, E. J.

2017-12-01

The Hadley circulation (HC) is the dominant atmospheric overturning circulation controlling variability in precipitation distribution in the tropics and subtropics, affecting agricultural production and water resource allocation, among other human civilizational dependencies. A lack of pre-instrumental data-model synthesis has been cited as the barrier to diagnostic analyses of the variability in width, position, and intensity of the HC and its response to anthropogenic forcing. We analyze the HC, and its rising limb associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), over the past 1000 years using the Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR) (Hakim et al. 2016). The LMR systematically blends the dynamical constraints of climate models with a proxy network of coral, tree ring, and ice core records. It allows for a spatiotemporal analysis with robust uncertainty measures. A three dimensional analysis of LMR wind fields shows an centennial-scale circulatory trend over the last 200 years resembling that which might be expected from an ENSO and PDO-like structure. An observed aridification of both the central equatorial Pacific and the southwest United States, a strengthening of the east-west sea surface temperature and sea level pressure gradient in the equatorial Pacific, and a strengthening of the Walker overturning circulation suggest a more "La Niña-like" mean state. This is compared to our statistical description of the centennial-scale mean circulation and variability of the previous millennia. Similarly, precipitation and relative humidity trends suggest expansion and asymmetric meridional movement of the Hadley circulation as a result of asymmetric shifts in mean ITCZ position and intensity. These observations are then compared to free running model simulations, other instrumental reanalysis products, and late-Holocene aerosol, solar, and greenhouse forcings. This LMR reconstruction improves upon previous work by enabling a proxy-consistent, quantitative

Atom–Photon Coupling from Nitrogen-vacancy Centres Embedded in Tellurite Microspheres

PubMed Central

Ruan, Yinlan; Gibson, Brant C.; Lau, Desmond W. M.; Greentree, Andrew D.; Ji, Hong; Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Heike; Johnson, Brett C.; Ohshima, Takeshi; Monro, Tanya M.

2015-01-01

We have developed a technique for creating high quality tellurite microspheres with embedded nanodiamonds (NDs) containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres. This hybrid method allows fluorescence of the NVs in the NDs to be directly, rather than evanescently, coupled to the whispering gallery modes of the tellurite microspheres at room temperature. As a demonstration of its sensing potential, shifting of the resonance peaks is also demonstrated by coating a sphere surface with a liquid layer. This new approach is a robust way of creating cavities for use in quantum and sensing applications. PMID:26095793

Atom-Photon Coupling from Nitrogen-vacancy Centres Embedded in Tellurite Microspheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruan, Yinlan; Gibson, Brant C.; Lau, Desmond W. M.; Greentree, Andrew D.; Ji, Hong; Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Heike; Johnson, Brett C.; Ohshima, Takeshi; Monro, Tanya M.

2015-06-01

We have developed a technique for creating high quality tellurite microspheres with embedded nanodiamonds (NDs) containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres. This hybrid method allows fluorescence of the NVs in the NDs to be directly, rather than evanescently, coupled to the whispering gallery modes of the tellurite microspheres at room temperature. As a demonstration of its sensing potential, shifting of the resonance peaks is also demonstrated by coating a sphere surface with a liquid layer. This new approach is a robust way of creating cavities for use in quantum and sensing applications.

The Met Office Coupled Atmosphere/Land/Ocean/Sea-Ice Data Assimilation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lea, Daniel; Mirouze, Isabelle; Martin, Matthew; Hines, Adrian; Guiavarch, Catherine; Shelly, Ann

2014-05-01

The Met Office has developed a weakly-coupled data assimilation (DA) system using the global coupled model HADGEM3 (Hadley Centre Global Environment Model, version 3). This model combines the atmospheric model UM (Unified Model) at 60 km horizontal resolution on 85 vertical levels, the ocean model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean) at 25 km (at the equator) horizontal resolution on 75 vertical levels, and the sea-ice model CICE at the same resolution as NEMO. The atmosphere and the ocean/sea-ice fields are coupled every 1-hour using the OASIS coupler. The coupled model is corrected using two separate 6-hour window data assimilation systems: a 4D-Var for the atmosphere with associated soil moisture content nudging and snow analysis schemes on the one hand, and a 3D-Var FGAT for the ocean and sea-ice on the other hand. The background information in the DA systems comes from a previous 6-hour forecast of the coupled model. To show the impact of coupled DA, one-month experiments have been carried out, including 1) a full atmosphere/land/ocean/sea-ice coupled DA run, 2) an atmosphere-only run forced by OSTIA SSTs and sea-ice with atmosphere and land DA, and 3) an ocean-only run forced by atmospheric fields from run 2 with ocean and sea-ice DA. In addition, 5-day forecast runs, started twice a day, have been produced from initial conditions generated by either run 1 or a combination of runs 2 and 3. The different results have been compared to each other and, whenever possible, to other references such as the Met Office atmosphere and ocean operational analyses or the OSTIA data. These all show the coupled DA system functioning well. Evidence of imbalances and initialisation shocks has also been looked for.

Robust Hadley Circulation changes and increasing global dryness due to CO2 warming from CMIP5 model projections.

PubMed

Lau, William K M; Kim, Kyu-Myong

2015-03-24

In this paper, we investigate changes in the Hadley Circulation (HC) and their connections to increased global dryness (suppressed rainfall and reduced tropospheric relative humidity) under CO2 warming from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model projections. We find a strengthening of the HC manifested in a "deep-tropics squeeze" (DTS), i.e., a deepening and narrowing of the convective zone, enhanced ascent, increased high clouds, suppressed low clouds, and a rise of the level of maximum meridional mass outflow in the upper troposphere (200-100 hPa) of the deep tropics. The DTS induces atmospheric moisture divergence and reduces tropospheric relative humidity in the tropics and subtropics, in conjunction with a widening of the subsiding branches of the HC, resulting in increased frequency of dry events in preferred geographic locations worldwide. Among various water-cycle parameters examined, global dryness is found to have the highest signal-to-noise ratio. Our results provide a physical basis for inferring that greenhouse warming is likely to contribute to the observed prolonged droughts worldwide in recent decades.

Does coupled ocean enhance ozone-hole-induced Southern Hemisphere circulation changes?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Son, S. W.; Han, B. R.; Kim, S. Y.; Park, R.

2017-12-01

The ozone-hole-induced Southern Hemisphere (SH) circulation changes, such as poleward shift of westerly jet and Hadley cell widening, have been typically explored with either coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) prescribing stratospheric ozone or chemistry-climate models (CCMs) prescribing surface boundary conditions. Only few studies have utilized ocean-coupled CCMs with a relatively coarse resolution. To better quantify the role of interactive chemistry and coupled ocean in the ozone-hole-induced SH circulation changes, the present study examines a set of CGCM and CCM simulations archived for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) and CCM initiative (CCMI). Although inter-model spread of Antarctic ozone depletion is substantially large especially in the austral spring, both CGCMs with relatively simple ozone chemistry and CCMs with fully interactive comprehensive chemistry reasonably well reproduce long-term trends of Antarctic ozone and the associated polar-stratospheric temperature changes. Most models reproduce a poleward shift of SH jet and Hadley-cell widening in the austral summer in the late 20th century as identified in reanalysis datasets. These changes are quasi-linearly related with Antarctic ozone changes, confirming the critical role of Antarctic ozone depletion in the austral-summer zonal-mean circulation changes. The CGCMs with simple but still interactive ozone show slightly stronger circulation changes than those with prescribed ozone. However, the long-term circulation changes in CCMs are largely insensitive to the coupled ocean. While a few models show the enhanced circulation changes when ocean is coupled, others show essentially no changes or even weakened circulation changes. This result suggests that the ozone-hole-related stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the late 20th century may be only weakly sensitive to the coupled ocean.

Three-dimensional baroclinic instability of a Hadley cell for small Richardson number

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Antar, B. N.; Fowlis, W. W.

1983-01-01

For the case of a baroclinic flow whose Richardson number, Ri, is of order unity, a three-dimensional linear stability analysis is conducted on the basis of a model for a thin, horizontal, rotating fluid layer which is subjected to horizontal and vertical temperature gradients. The Hadley cell basic state and stability analysis are both based on the Navier-Stokes and energy equations, and perturbations possessing zonal, meridional, and vertical structures are considered. An attempt is made to extend the previous theoretical work on three-dimensional baroclinic instability for small Ri to a more realistic model involving the Prandtl and Ekman numbers, as well as to finite growth rates and a wider range of the zonal wavenumber. In general, it is found that the symmetric modes of maximum growth are not purely symmetric, but have a weak zonal structure.

The contrasting response of Hadley circulation to different meridional structure of sea surface temperature in CMIP5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Juan; Li, Jianping; Zhu, Jianlei; Li, Yang; Li, Fei

2018-02-01

The response of the Hadley circulation (HC) to the sea surface temperature (SST) is determined by the meridional structure of SST and varies according to the changing nature of this meridional structure. The capability of the models from the phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) is utilized to represent the contrast response of the HC to different meridional SST structures. To evaluate the responses, the variations of HC and SST were linearly decomposed into two components: the equatorially asymmetric (HEA for HC, and SEA for SST) and equatorially symmetric (HES for HC, and SES for SST) components. The result shows that the climatological features of HC and tropical SST (including the spatial structures and amplitude) are reasonably simulated in all the models. However, the response contrast of HC to different SST meridional structures shows uncertainties among models. This may be due to the fact that the long-term temporal variabilities of HEA, HES, and SEA are limited reproduced in the models, although the spatial structures of their long-term variabilities are relatively reasonably simulated. These results indicate that the performance of the CMIP5 models to simulate long-term temporal variability of different meridional SST structures and related HC variations plays a fundamental role in the successful reproduction of the response of HC to different meridional SST structures.

Three-dimensional baroclinic instability of a Hadley cell for small Richardson number

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Antar, B. N.; Fowlis, W. W.

1985-01-01

A three-dimensional, linear stability analysis of a baroclinic flow for Richardson number, Ri, of order unity is presented. The model considered is a thin horizontal, rotating fluid layer which is subjected to horizontal and vertical temperature gradients. The basic state is a Hadley cell which is a solution of the complete set of governing, nonlinear equations and contains both Ekman and thermal boundary layers adjacent to the rigid boundaries; it is given in a closed form. The stability analysis is also based on the complete set of equations; and perturbation possessing zonal, meridional, and vertical structures were considered. Numerical methods were developed for the stability problem which results in a stiff, eighth-order, ordinary differential eigenvalue problem. The previous work on three-dimensional baroclinic instability for small Ri was extended to a more realistic model involving the Prandtl number, sigma, and the Ekman number, E, and to finite growth rates and a wider range of the zonal wavenumber.

The interplay of internal and forced modes of Hadley Cell expansion: lessons from the global warming hiatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amaya, Dillon J.; Siler, Nicholas; Xie, Shang-Ping; Miller, Arthur J.

2017-09-01

The poleward branches of the Hadley Cells and the edge of the tropics show a robust poleward shift during the satellite era, leading to concerns over the possible encroachment of the globe's subtropical dry zones into currently temperate climates. The extent to which this trend is caused by anthropogenic forcing versus internal variability remains the subject of considerable debate. In this study, we use a Joint EOF method to identify two distinct modes of tropical width variability: (1) an anthropogenically-forced mode, which we identify using a 20-member simulation of the historical climate, and (2) an internal mode, which we identify using a 1000-year pre-industrial control simulation. The forced mode is found to be closely related to the top of the atmosphere radiative imbalance and exhibits a long-term trend since 1860, while the internal mode is essentially indistinguishable from the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Together these two modes explain an average of 70% of the interannual variability seen in model "edge indices" over the historical period. Since 1980, the superposition of forced and internal modes has resulted in a period of accelerated Hadley Cell expansion and decelerated global warming (i.e., the "hiatus"). A comparison of the change in these modes since 1980 indicates that by 2013 the signal has emerged above the noise of internal variability in the Southern Hemisphere, but not in the Northern Hemisphere, with the latter also exhibiting strong zonal asymmetry, particularly in the North Atlantic. Our results highlight the important interplay of internal and forced modes of tropical width change and improve our understanding of the interannual variability and long-term trend seen in observations.

The Effect of Changes in the Hadley Circulation on Oceanic Oxygen Minimum Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De La Cruz Tello, G.; Ummenhofer, C.; Karnauskas, K. B.

2014-12-01

Recent research argued that the Hadley circulation (HC) is composed of three regional cells located at the eastern edges of the ocean basins, rather than a single, globe-encircling cell as the classic textbook view suggests. The HC is expected to expand in concert with global warming, which means that the dry regions beneath the descending branches of the HC are projected to become even drier. Changes in the HC are thus likely to impact freshwater resources on land, as well as the underlying ocean in the subtropics. The eastern edges of ocean basins are characterized by oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), which are regions of very low oxygen concentrations. They affect marine life, as many animals cannot handle the stress caused by such conditions. OMZs have expanded and shoaled in the last 50 years, and they are expected to continue to do so as global climate changes. The purpose of this research is to find links between the projected changes in OMZs and the HC. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model 1.0 (CESM), Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) experiment with a resolution of 0.9 by 1.25 degrees, which formed part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), was used for this analysis. Meridional winds and oceanic oxygen concentrations were the primarily analyzed variables. Latitudinal ocean oxygen slices demonstrate the OMZs' location along the eastern edges of ocean basins. Meridional winds overlayed with oxygen concentration are consistent with the idea that surface meridional 'Hadleywise flow' (i.e., towards the equator at the surface and towards the poles aloft) and OMZs are linked through changes in upwelling. Area-averaged time series spanning the historical period through to the end of the 21st century with RCP8.5 confirm that future changes in OMZs and the HC may be connected. Further research could lead to improved understanding of the factors that drive changes in both, which could

Dynamical and thermodynamical coupling between the North Atlantic subtropical high and the marine boundary layer clouds in boreal summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wei; Li, Wenhong; Deng, Yi; Yang, Song; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Huang, Lei; Liu, W. Timothy

2018-04-01

This study investigates dynamical and thermodynamical coupling between the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds, and the local sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the North Atlantic in boreal summer for 1984-2009 using NCEP/DOE Reanalysis 2 dataset, various cloud data, and the Hadley Centre sea surface temperature. On interannual timescales, the summer mean subtropical MBL clouds to the southeast of the NASH is actively coupled with the NASH and local SSTs: a stronger (weaker) NASH is often accompanied with an increase (a decrease) of MBL clouds and abnormally cooler (warmer) SSTs along the southeast flank of the NASH. To understand the physical processes between the NASH and the MBL clouds, the authors conduct a data diagnostic analysis and implement a numerical modeling investigation using an idealized anomalous atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM). Results suggest that significant northeasterly anomalies in the southeast flank of the NASH associated with an intensified NASH tend to induce stronger cold advection and coastal upwelling in the MBL cloud region, reducing the boundary surface temperature. Meanwhile, warm advection associated with the easterly anomalies from the African continent leads to warming over the MBL cloud region at 700 hPa. Such warming and the surface cooling increase the atmospheric static stability, favoring growth of the MBL clouds. The anomalous diabatic cooling associated with the growth of the MBL clouds dynamically excites an anomalous anticyclone to its north and contributes to strengthening of the NASH circulation in its southeast flank. The dynamical and thermodynamical couplings and their associated variations in the NASH, MBL clouds, and SSTs constitute an important aspect of the summer climate variability over the North Atlantic.

The role of soil moisture in land surface-atmosphere coupling: climate model sensitivity experiments over India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Charles; Turner, Andrew

2015-04-01

It is generally acknowledged that anthropogenic land use changes, such as a shift from forested land into irrigated agriculture, may have an impact on regional climate and, in particular, rainfall patterns in both time and space. India provides an excellent example of a country in which widespread land use change has occurred during the last century, as the country tries to meet its growing demand for food. Of primary concern for agriculture is the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), which displays considerable seasonal and subseasonal variability. Although it is evident that changing rainfall variability will have a direct impact on land surface processes (such as soil moisture variability), the reverse impact is less well understood. However, the role of soil moisture in the coupling between the land surface and atmosphere needs to be properly explored before any potential impact of changing soil moisture variability on ISM rainfall can be understood. This paper attempts to address this issue, by conducting a number of sensitivity experiments using a state-of-the-art climate model from the UK Meteorological Office Hadley Centre: HadGEM2. Several experiments are undertaken, with the only difference between them being the extent to which soil moisture is coupled to the atmosphere. Firstly, the land surface is fully coupled to the atmosphere, globally (as in standard model configurations); secondly, the land surface is entirely uncoupled from the atmosphere, again globally, with soil moisture values being prescribed on a daily basis; thirdly, the land surface is uncoupled from the atmosphere over India but fully coupled elsewhere; and lastly, vice versa (i.e. the land surface is coupled to the atmosphere over India but uncoupled elsewhere). Early results from this study suggest certain 'hotspot' regions where the impact of soil moisture coupling/uncoupling may be important, and many of these regions coincide with previous studies. Focusing on the third experiment, i

The Met Office Coupled Atmosphere/Land/Ocean/Sea-Ice Data Assimilation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lea, Daniel; Mirouze, Isabelle; King, Robert; Martin, Matthew; Hines, Adrian

2015-04-01

The Met Office has developed a weakly-coupled data assimilation (DA) system using the global coupled model HadGEM3 (Hadley Centre Global Environment Model, version 3). At present the analysis from separate ocean and atmosphere DA systems are combined to produced coupled forecasts. The aim of coupled DA is to produce a more consistent analysis for coupled forecasts which may lead to less initialisation shock and improved forecast performance. The HadGEM3 coupled model combines the atmospheric model UM (Unified Model) at 60 km horizontal resolution on 85 vertical levels, the ocean model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) at 25 km (at the equator) horizontal resolution on 75 vertical levels, and the sea-ice model CICE at the same resolution as NEMO. The atmosphere and the ocean/sea-ice fields are coupled every 1-hour using the OASIS coupler. The coupled model is corrected using two separate 6-hour window data assimilation systems: a 4D-Var for the atmosphere with associated soil moisture content nudging and snow analysis schemes on the one hand, and a 3D-Var FGAT for the ocean and sea-ice on the other hand. The background information in the DA systems comes from a previous 6-hour forecast of the coupled model. To isolate the impact of the coupled DA, 13-month experiments have been carried out, including 1) a full atmosphere/land/ocean/sea-ice coupled DA run, 2) an atmosphere-only run forced by OSTIA SSTs and sea-ice with atmosphere and land DA, and 3) an ocean-only run forced by atmospheric fields from run 2 with ocean and sea-ice DA. In addition, 5-day and 10-day forecast runs, have been produced from initial conditions generated by either run 1 or a combination of runs 2 and 3. The different results have been compared to each other and, whenever possible, to other references such as the Met Office atmosphere and ocean operational analyses or the OSTIA SST data. The performance of the coupled DA is similar to the existing separate ocean and atmosphere

An extended review of couple-centred interventions in dementia: Exploring the what and why - Part B.

PubMed

Bielsten, Therése; Hellström, Ingrid

2017-01-01

This scoping review is an extended version of a narrative review of couple-centred interventions in dementia shared in part A and the previous publication in this edition. The rationale for expanding study A emerged through the fact that most dyadic interventions have samples consisting of a majority of couples. The exclusion of interventions with samples of mixed relationships in part A therefore contributed to a narrow picture of joint dyadic interventions for couples in which one partner has a dementia. The aim of this second review is to explore the 'what' (types of interventions) and the 'why' (objectives and outcome measures) of dyadic interventions in which sample consists of a majority of couples/spouses and in which people with dementia and caregivers jointly participate. Method A five-step framework for scoping reviews guided the procedure. Searches were performed in Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Results Twenty-one studies with various types of psychosocial interventions were included. The main outcome measure for people with dementia was related to cognitive function, respectively caregiver burden and depression for caregivers. Conclusions The findings of this extended review of joint dyadic interventions in dementia are in line with the findings of part A regarding the negative approach of outcomes, lack of a genuine dyadic approach, lack of tailored support, neglect of interpersonal issues and the overlook of the views of people with dementia. This review also recognises that measures of caregiver burden, as well as relationship quality should be considered in samples of mixed relationships due to the different significance of burden and relationship quality for a spouse as opposed to an adult child or friend.

Two-Centre Convergent Close-Coupling Approach to Ion-Atom Collisions: Current Progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadyrov, Alisher; Abdurakhmanov, Ilkhom; Bailey, Jackson; Bray, Igor

2016-09-01

There are two versions of the convergent close-coupling (CCC) approach to ion-atom collisions: quantum-mechanical (QM-CCC) and semi-classical (SC-CCC). Recently, both implementations have been extended to include electron-transfer channels. The SC-CCC approach has been applied to study the excitation and the electron-capture processes in proton-hydrogen collisions. The integral alignment parameter A20 for polarization of Lyman- α emission and the cross sections for excitation and electron-capture into the lowest excited states have been calculated for a wide range of the proton impact energies. It has been established that for convergence of the results a very wide range of impact parameters (typically, 0-50 a.u.) is required due to extremely long tails of transition probabilities for transitions into the 2 p states at high energies. The QM-CCC approach allowed to obtain an accurate solution of proton-hydrogen scattering problem including all underlying processes, namely, direct scattering and ionisation, and electron capture into bound and continuum states of the projectile. In this presentation we give a general overview of current progress in applications of the two-centre CCC approach to ion-atom and atom-atom collisions. The work is supported by the Australian Research Council.

Satellite Sounder Observations of Contrasting Tropospheric Moisture Transport Regimes: Saharan Air Layers, Hadley Cells, and Atmospheric Rivers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nalli, Nicholas R.; Barnet, Christopher D.; Reale, Tony

This paper examines the performance of satellite sounder atmospheric vertical moisture proles (AVMP) under tropospheric conditions encompassing moisture contrasts driven by convection and advection transport mechanisms, specifically Atlantic Ocean Saharan air layers (SALs) and Pacific Ocean moisture conveyer belts (MCBs) commonly referred to as atmospheric rivers (ARs), both of these being mesoscale to synoptic meteorological phenomena within the vicinity of subtropical Hadley subsidence zones. Operational AVMP environmental data records retrieved from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) are collocated with dedicated radiosonde observations (RAOBs) obtained from ocean-based intensive field campaigns; these RAOBs provide uniquelymore » independent correlative truth data not assimilated into numerical weather prediction models for satellite sounder validation over open ocean. Using these marine-based data, we empirically assess the performance of the operational NUCAPS AVMP product for detecting and resolving these tropospheric moisture features over otherwise RAOB-sparse regions.« less

Robust impact of coupled stratospheric ozone chemistry on the response of the Austral circulation to increased greenhouse gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiodo, G.; Polvani, L. M.

2016-12-01

Due to computational constraints, interactive stratospheric chemistry is commonly neglected in most GCMs participating in inter-comparison projects. The impact of this simplification on the modeled response to external forcings remains largely unexplored. In this work, we examine the impact of the stratospheric chemistry coupling on the SH circulation response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO2. We accomplish this with a version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate (WACCM) model, which allows coupling and de-coupling stratospheric chemistry, without altering any other physical parameterization. We find that the chemistry coupling in WACCM significantly reduces (by about 20%) the response of both eddy-driven mid-latitude jet and the Hadley Cell strength, without altering the surface temperature response. This behavior is linked to the representation of stratospheric ozone, and its effects on the meridional temperature gradient at the extratropical tropopause. Our results imply that neglecting stratospheric ozone chemistry results in a potential overestimation of the circulation response to GHGs. Hence, stratospheric ozone chemistry produces a substantial negative feedback on the response of the atmospheric circulation to increased greenhouse gases.

Detection of the ODMR signal of a nitrogen vacancy centre in nanodiamond in propagating surface plasmons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Baiaty, Zahraa; Cumming, Benjamin P.; Gan, Xiaosong; Gu, Min

2018-02-01

We demonstrate that the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) signal of a nitrogen vacancy (NV) centre can be coupled to propagating surface plasmons for the detection of the NV centre spin states, and of external magnetic fields. By coupling the spin dependent luminescence signal of a NV centre in a nanodiamond (ND) to a chemically synthesized silver nanowire, we demonstrate the readout of the ODMR signal as a reduction in the surface plasmon polariton intensity, with improved contrast in comparison to the emission from the NV centre. Furthermore, on the application of a permanent magnetic field from zero to 13 G, we demonstrate that the Zeeman splitting of the magnetic spin states of the nitrogen vacancy centre ground states can also be detected in the coupled surface plasmons. This is an important step in the development of a compact on-chip information processing system utilizing the nitrogen vacancy in nanodiamond as an on-chip source with efficient magnetometry sensing properties.

The ambiguity of patient-centred practices: the case of a Dutch fertility clinic.

PubMed

Gerrits, Trudie

2014-01-01

When in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was introduced in the 1970s, doctors were criticized for not properly informing prospective users about its possible risks and limited success rates as well as for medicalizing fertility problems. Nowadays, many fertility clinics are seeking to improve their accountability to stakeholders through patient-centred practices. Based on an ethnographic study of a Dutch fertility clinic, outspoken in its aims to provide patient-centred medicine and to empower clients, this paper addresses how patient-centred medicine affects couples' decision-making to use IVF and related reproductive technologies. The author contends that while patient-centred practices facilitate informed decision-making and support couples emotionally, they may also have unintended disciplining and normalizing effects. The information and support provided, the trust couples have in clinic staff, the ongoing visualization of conception mediated by medical technology--all can be seen as practices that strengthen lay people's 'medical gaze' in how they come to view their bodies, fertility problems and possible solutions. These unintended effects are labelled 'the ambiguity of patient-centeredness' as they (may) interfere with processes of autonomous decision-making.

Deformation-induced structural transition in body-centred cubic molybdenum

PubMed Central

Wang, S. J.; Wang, H.; Du, K.; Zhang, W.; Sui, M. L.; Mao, S. X.

2014-01-01

Molybdenum is a refractory metal that is stable in a body-centred cubic structure at all temperatures before melting. Plastic deformation via structural transitions has never been reported for pure molybdenum, while transformation coupled with plasticity is well known for many alloys and ceramics. Here we demonstrate a structural transformation accompanied by shear deformation from an original <001>-oriented body-centred cubic structure to a <110>-oriented face-centred cubic lattice, captured at crack tips during the straining of molybdenum inside a transmission electron microscope at room temperature. The face-centred cubic domains then revert into <111>-oriented body-centred cubic domains, equivalent to a lattice rotation of 54.7°, and ~15.4% tensile strain is reached. The face-centred cubic structure appears to be a well-defined metastable state, as evidenced by scanning transmission electron microscopy and nanodiffraction, the Nishiyama–Wassermann and Kurdjumov–Sachs relationships between the face-centred cubic and body-centred cubic structures and molecular dynamics simulations. Our findings reveal a deformation mechanism for elemental metals under high-stress deformation conditions. PMID:24603655

Robust Hadley Circulation Changes and Increasing Global Dryness Due to CO2 Warming from CMIP-5 Model Projections

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, William K. M.; Kim, K. M.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we investigate changes in the Hadley Circulation (HC) and their connections to increased global dryness under CO2 warming from CMIP-5 model projections. We find a strengthening of the ascending branch of the HC manifested in a deep-tropics squeeze (DTS), i.e., a deepening and narrowing of the convective zone, increased high clouds, and a rise of the level of maximum meridional mass outflow in the upper troposphere (200-100 hectopascals) of the deep tropics. The DTS induces atmospheric moisture divergence, reduces tropospheric relative humidity in the tropics and subtropics, in conjunction with a widening of the subsiding branches of the HC, resulting in increased frequency of dry events in preferred geographic locations worldwide. Among water cycle parameters examined, global dryness has the highest signal-to-noise ratio. Our results provide scientific bases for inferring that the observed tend of prolonged droughts in recent decades is likely attributable to greenhouse warming.

Hadley circulation strength and width in a wide range of simulated climates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Agostino, R.; Adam, O.; Lionello, P.; Schneider, T.

2016-12-01

Understanding how the Hadley circulation (HC) responds to global warming is crucial because it determines climatic features such as the seasonal migration of the ITCZ, the extent of subtropical arid regions and the strength of the monsoons. Here we analyse changes in the HC strength and width in the set of PMIP3 and CMIP5 simulations, spanning a wide range of climate conditions from Last Glacial Maximum to future RCP projections. The large climate change signal emerging from comparing paleoclimate simulations to future scenarios offers the possibility to analyse the corresponding HC change and to investigate its response to large variations of the factors controlling it. The results confirm that the HC generally expands and weakens as the global mean temperature increases, consistent with results from other studies. Furthermore, we find an asymmetric HC response between the northern and southern hemisphere in the rate at which the HC edges shift poleward with global warming. The mid-latitude static stability and meridional temperature gradients affect the HC edges to different degrees in the two hemispheres. In the southern hemisphere the increase in the mid-latitude static stability is associated with a poleward shift of the southern HC edge, while in the northern hemisphere, the reduction in the meridional temperature gradient plays the dominant role in the poleward shift of the northern HC edge. The two hemispheres also exhibit very different changes of HC strength. The HC weakening with global warming occurs primarily in the northern hemisphere, while there is no change, or even a slighter weakening in the southern hemisphere. The HC changes also have pronounced seasonal signatures. The maximum poleward shift of the northern HC edge occurs one month later (from August to September) in future global warming scenarios than when comparing pre-industrial simulations with the Last Glacial Maximum.

Hadley circulation extent and strength in a wide range of simulated climates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Agostino, Roberta; Adam, Ori; Lionello, Piero; Schneider, Tapio

2017-04-01

Understanding the Hadley circulation (HC) dynamics is crucial because its changes affect the seasonal migration of the ITCZ, the extent of subtropical arid regions and the strength of the monsoons. Despite decades of study, the factors controlling its strength and extent have remained unclear. Here we analyse how HC strength and extent change over a wide range of climate conditions from the Last Glacial Maximum to future projections. The large climate change between paleoclimate simulations and future scenarios offers the chance to analyse robust HC changes and their link to large-scale factors. The HC shrinks and strengthens in the coldest simulation relative to the warmest. A progressive poleward shift of its edges is evident as the climate warms (at a rate of 0.35°lat./K in each hemisphere). The HC extent and strength both depend on the isentropic slope, which in turn is related to the meridional temperature gradient, subtropical static stability and tropopause height. In multiple robust regression analysis using these as predictors, we find that the tropical tropopause height does not add relevant information to the model beyond surface temperature. Therefore, primarily the static stability and secondarily the meridional temperature contrast together account for the bulk of the almost the total HC variance. However, the regressions leave some of the northern HC edge and southern HC strength variance unexplained. The effectiveness of this analysis is limited by the correlation among the predictors and their relationship with mean temperature. In fact, for all simulations, the tropical temperature explains well the variations of HC except its southern hemisphere intensity. Hence, it can be used as the sole predictor to diagnose the HC response to greenhouse-induced global warming. How to account for the evolution of the southern HC strength remains unclear, because of the large inter-model spread in this quantity.

Constraining the Late Miocene paleo-CO2 estimates through GCM model-data comparisons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradshaw, Catherine; Pound, Matthew; Lunt, Daniel; Flecker, Rachel; Salzmann, Ulrich; Haywood, Alan; Riding, James; Francis, Jane

2010-05-01

The period following the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum experienced a continued downward trend in the δ18O record - a record acknowledged as a proxy indicator of both ice volume and temperature (Zachos et al., 2001). Given the link between atmospheric CO2 and temperature (IPCC, 2007), it could be thought that the timeline throughout the Late Miocene would show a general decline in CO2 in accordance with the δ18O record. However, examination of the palaeo-CO2 record shows a relatively flat profile across this time, or perhaps even a slight increase, but there is a wide variation in the palaeo-CO2 estimate for the differing approximation methods. We use the fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-vegetation model of the Hadley Centre, HadCM3L, which has a low resolution ocean (Hadley Centre Coupled Model, Version 3 - low resolution ocean) with TRIFFID (Top-down Representation of Interactive Foliage and Flora Including Dynamics: Cox, 2001) to generate CO2 sensitivity scenarios for the Late Miocene: 180ppmv, 280ppmv and 400ppmv, as well as a preindustrial control simulation: 280 ppmv. We also run the BIOME4 model offline to produce predicted biome distributions for each of our scenarios. We compare both marine and terrestrial modelled temperatures, and the predicted vegetation distributions for these scenarios against available palaeodata As we simulate with a coupled dynamic ocean model, we use planktonic and benthic foraminiferal-based proxy palaeotemperature estimates to compare to the modelled marine temperatures at the depths consistent with the reconstructed palaeoecology of the foraminifera. We compare our modelled terrestrial temperatures to vegetation-based proxy palaeotemperatures, and we use a newly compiled vegetation reconstruction for the Late Miocene to compare to our modelled vegetation distributions. The new Late Miocene vegetation reconstruction is based on a 200+ point database of palaeobotanical sites. Each location is classified into a biome consistent with

General-circulation-model simulations of future snowpack in the western United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCabe, G.J.; Wolock, D.M.

1999-01-01

April 1 snowpack accumulations measured at 311 snow courses in the western United States (U.S.) are grouped using a correlation-based cluster analysis. A conceptual snow accumulation and melt model and monthly temperature and precipitation for each cluster are used to estimate cluster-average April 1 snowpack. The conceptual snow model is subsequently used to estimate future snowpack by using changes in monthly temperature and precipitation simulated by the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis (CCC) and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research (HADLEY) general circulation models (GCMs). Results for the CCC model indicate that although winter precipitation is estimated to increase in the future, increases in temperatures will result in large decreases in April 1 snowpack for the entire western US. Results for the HADLEY model also indicate large decreases in April 1 snowpack for most of the western US, but the decreases are not as severe as those estimated using the CCC simulations. Although snowpack conditions are estimated to decrease for most areas of the western US, both GCMs estimate a general increase in winter precipitation toward the latter half of the next century. Thus, water quantity may be increased in the western US; however, the timing of runoff will be altered because precipitation will more frequently occur as rain rather than as snow.

An Examination of the Hadley Sea-Surface Temperature Time Series for the Nino 3.4 Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2010-01-01

The Hadley sea-surface temperature (HadSST) dataset is investigated for the interval 1871-2008. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the degree of success in identifying and characterizing El Nino (EN) southern (ENSO) extreme events, both EN and La Nina (LN) events. Comparisons are made against both the Southern Oscillation Index for the same time interval and with published values of the Oceanic Nino Index for the interval since 1950. Some 60 ENSO extreme events are identified in the HadSST dataset, consisting of 33 EN and 27 LN events. Also, preferential associations are found to exist between the duration of ENSO extreme events and their maximum anomalous excursion temperatures and between the recurrence rate for an EN event and the duration of the last known EN event. Because the present ongoing EN is a strong event, it should persist 11 months or longer, inferring that the next EN event should not be expected until June 2012 or later. Furthermore, the decadal sum of EN-related months is found to have increased somewhat steadily since the decade of 1920-1929, suggesting that the present decade (2010-2019) possibly will see about 3-4 EN events, totaling about 37 +/- 3 EN-related months (i.e., months that meet the definition for the occurrence of an EN event).

The ambiguity of patient-centred practices: the case of a Dutch fertility clinic

PubMed Central

Gerrits, Trudie

2014-01-01

When in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was introduced in the 1970s, doctors were criticized for not properly informing prospective users about its possible risks and limited success rates as well as for medicalizing fertility problems. Nowadays, many fertility clinics are seeking to improve their accountability to stakeholders through patient-centred practices. Based on an ethnographic study of a Dutch fertility clinic, outspoken in its aims to provide patient-centred medicine and to empower clients, this paper addresses how patient-centred medicine affects couples’ decision-making to use IVF and related reproductive technologies. The author contends that while patient-centred practices facilitate informed decision-making and support couples emotionally, they may also have unintended disciplining and normalizing effects. The information and support provided, the trust couples have in clinic staff, the ongoing visualization of conception mediated by medical technology – all can be seen as practices that strengthen lay people's ‘medical gaze’ in how they come to view their bodies, fertility problems and possible solutions. These unintended effects are labelled ‘the ambiguity of patient-centeredness’ as they (may) interfere with processes of autonomous decision-making. PMID:24827743

Understanding the robustness of Hadley cell response to wide variations in ocean heat transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rencurrel, M. C.; Rose, B. E. J.

2017-12-01

One important aspect of our climate system is the relationship between surface climate and the poleward energy transport in the atmosphere and ocean. Previous studies have shown that increases in poleward ocean heat transport (OHT) tend to warm the midlatitudes without strongly affecting tropical SSTs, resulting in a reduction in the equator-to-pole temperature gradient. This "tropical thermostat" effect depends crucially on a slowdown of the Hadley circulation (HC), with consequent changes in surface evaporation, atmospheric water vapor, and cloudiness. Here we extend previous studies by considering a wide range of spatial patterns of OHT, which we impose in a suite of slab-ocean aquaplanet GCM simulations. The forcing patterns are idealized but sample a variety of ocean circulation features. We find that the tropical thermostat and HC slowdown effects are relatively robust across all forcing patterns. A 1 PW increase in the amplitude of the prescribed OHT spatial pattern results in a global mean warming and a roughly 5 x 1010 kg/s decrease in HC mass flux, regardless of the detailed spatial structure of the imposed OHT. While the rate of HC slowdown is relatively robust, the mechanisms driving it are less so. Smaller, equator-to-subtropical scale OHT patterns are associated with greater reduced Gross Moist Stability (GMS) than the larger-scale OHT patterns. As the imposed OHT is limited equatorward, the HC becomes less efficient at transporting energy out of the tropics, implying that GMS has a modulating effect on the dynamical response of the cell. These experiments offer some new insights on the interplay between atmospheric dynamics and the radiative and hydrological aspects of global climate.

Couple interdependence impacts HIV-related health behaviours among pregnant couples in southwestern Kenya: a qualitative analysis

PubMed Central

Rogers, Anna Joy; Achiro, Lillian; Bukusi, Elizabeth A; Hatcher, Abigail M; Kwena, Zachary; Musoke, Pamela L; Turan, Janet M; Weke, Elly; Darbes, Lynae A

2016-01-01

Introduction HIV infection is frequently transmitted within stable couple partnerships. In order to prevent HIV acquisition in HIV-negative couples, as well as improve coping in couples with an HIV-positive diagnosis, it has been suggested that interventions be aimed at strengthening couple relationships, in addition to addressing individual behaviours. However, little is known about factors that influence relationships to impact joint decision-making related to HIV. Methods We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 40 pregnant women and 40 male partners in southwestern Kenya, an area of high HIV prevalence. Drawing from the interdependence model of communal coping and health behaviour change, we employed thematic analysis methods to analyze interview transcripts in Dedoose software with the aim of identifying key relationship factors that could contribute to the development of a couples-based intervention to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their male partners. Results In accordance with the interdependence model, we found that couples with greater relationship-centred motivations described jointly engaging in more health-enhancing behaviours, such as couples HIV testing, disclosure of HIV status, and cooperation to improve medication and clinic appointment adherence. These couples often had predisposing factors such as stronger communication skills and shared children, and were less likely to face potential challenges such as polygamous marriages, wife inheritance, living separately, or financial difficulties. For HIV-negative couples, joint decision-making helped them face the health threat of acquiring HIV together. For couples with an HIV-positive diagnosis, communal coping helped reduce risk of interspousal transmission and improve long-term health prospects. Conversely, participants felt that self-centred motivations led to more concurrent sexual partnerships, reduced relationship satisfaction, and mistrust. Couples who lacked

Couple interdependence impacts HIV-related health behaviours among pregnant couples in southwestern Kenya: a qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Rogers, Anna Joy; Achiro, Lillian; Bukusi, Elizabeth A; Hatcher, Abigail M; Kwena, Zachary; Musoke, Pamela L; Turan, Janet M; Weke, Elly; Darbes, Lynae A

2016-01-01

HIV infection is frequently transmitted within stable couple partnerships. In order to prevent HIV acquisition in HIV-negative couples, as well as improve coping in couples with an HIV-positive diagnosis, it has been suggested that interventions be aimed at strengthening couple relationships, in addition to addressing individual behaviours. However, little is known about factors that influence relationships to impact joint decision-making related to HIV. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 40 pregnant women and 40 male partners in southwestern Kenya, an area of high HIV prevalence. Drawing from the interdependence model of communal coping and health behaviour change, we employed thematic analysis methods to analyze interview transcripts in Dedoose software with the aim of identifying key relationship factors that could contribute to the development of a couples-based intervention to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their male partners. In accordance with the interdependence model, we found that couples with greater relationship-centred motivations described jointly engaging in more health-enhancing behaviours, such as couples HIV testing, disclosure of HIV status, and cooperation to improve medication and clinic appointment adherence. These couples often had predisposing factors such as stronger communication skills and shared children, and were less likely to face potential challenges such as polygamous marriages, wife inheritance, living separately, or financial difficulties. For HIV-negative couples, joint decision-making helped them face the health threat of acquiring HIV together. For couples with an HIV-positive diagnosis, communal coping helped reduce risk of interspousal transmission and improve long-term health prospects. Conversely, participants felt that self-centred motivations led to more concurrent sexual partnerships, reduced relationship satisfaction, and mistrust. Couples who lacked interdependence were more likely to

High-efficiency resonant coupled wireless power transfer via tunable impedance matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anowar, Tanbir Ibne; Barman, Surajit Das; Wasif Reza, Ahmed; Kumar, Narendra

2017-10-01

For magnetic resonant coupled wireless power transfer (WPT), the axial movement of near-field coupled coils adversely degrades the power transfer efficiency (PTE) of the system and often creates sub-resonance. This paper presents a tunable impedance matching technique based on optimum coupling tuning to enhance the efficiency of resonant coupled WPT system. The optimum power transfer model is analysed from equivalent circuit model via reflected load principle, and the adequate matching are achieved through the optimum tuning of coupling coefficients at both the transmitting and receiving end of the system. Both simulations and experiments are performed to evaluate the theoretical model of the proposed matching technique, and results in a PTE over 80% at close coil proximity without shifting the original resonant frequency. Compared to the fixed coupled WPT, the extracted efficiency shows 15.1% and 19.9% improvements at the centre-to-centre misalignment of 10 and 70 cm, respectively. Applying this technique, the extracted S21 parameter shows more than 10 dB improvements at both strong and weak couplings. Through the developed model, the optimum coupling tuning also significantly improves the performance over matching techniques using frequency tracking and tunable matching circuits.

Climate change projections for Tamil Nadu, India: deriving high-resolution climate data by a downscaling approach using PRECIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bal, Prasanta Kumar; Ramachandran, A.; Geetha, R.; Bhaskaran, B.; Thirumurugan, P.; Indumathi, J.; Jayanthi, N.

2016-02-01

In this paper, we present regional climate change projections for the Tamil Nadu state of India, simulated by the Met Office Hadley Centre regional climate model. The model is run at 25 km horizontal resolution driven by lateral boundary conditions generated by a perturbed physical ensemble of 17 simulations produced by a version of Hadley Centre coupled climate model, known as HadCM3Q under A1B scenario. The large scale features of these 17 simulations were evaluated for the target region to choose lateral boundary conditions from six members that represent a range of climate variations over the study region. The regional climate, known as PRECIS, was then run 130 years from 1970. The analyses primarily focus on maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall over the region. For the Tamil Nadu as a whole, the projections of maximum temperature show an increase of 1.0, 2.2 and 3.1 °C for the periods 2020s (2005-2035), 2050s (2035-2065) and 2080s (2065-2095), respectively, with respect to baseline period (1970-2000). Similarly, the projections of minimum temperature show an increase of 1.1, 2.4 and 3.5 °C, respectively. This increasing trend is statistically significant (Mann-Kendall trend test). The annual rainfall projections for the same periods indicate a general decrease in rainfall of about 2-7, 1-4 and 4-9 %, respectively. However, significant exceptions are noticed over some pockets of western hilly areas and high rainfall areas where increases in rainfall are seen. There are also indications of increasing heavy rainfall events during the northeast monsoon season and a slight decrease during the southwest monsoon season. Such an approach of using climate models may maximize the utility of high-resolution climate change information for impact-adaptation-vulnerability assessments.

Potential effects of climate change on ground water in Lansing, Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Croley, T.E.; Luukkonen, C.L.

2003-01-01

Computer simulations involving general circulation models, a hydrologic modeling system, and a ground water flow model indicate potential impacts of selected climate change projections on ground water levels in the Lansing, Michigan, area. General circulation models developed by the Canadian Climate Centre and the Hadley Centre generated meteorology estimates for 1961 through 1990 (as a reference condition) and for the 20 years centered on 2030 (as a changed climate condition). Using these meteorology estimates, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's hydrologic modeling system produced corresponding period streamflow simulations. Ground water recharge was estimated from the streamflow simulations and from variables derived from the general circulation models. The U.S. Geological Survey developed a numerical ground water flow model of the Saginaw and glacial aquifers in the Tri-County region surrounding Lansing, Michigan. Model simulations, using the ground water recharge estimates, indicate changes in ground water levels. Within the Lansing area, simulated ground water levels in the Saginaw aquifer declined under the Canadian predictions and increased under the Hadley.

Nanodiamond-based nanostructures for coupling nitrogen-vacancy centres to metal nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots

DOE PAGES

Gong, Jianxiao; Steinsultz, Nat; Ouyang, Min

2016-06-08

The ability to control the interaction between nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond and photonic and/or broadband plasmonic nanostructures is crucial for the development of solid-state quantum devices with optimum performance. However, existing methods typically employ top-down fabrication, which restrict scalable and feasible manipulation of nitrogen-vacancy centres. Here, we develop a general bottom-up approach to fabricate an emerging class of freestanding nanodiamond-based hybrid nanostructures with external functional units of either plasmonic nanoparticles or excitonic quantum dots. Precise control of the structural parameters ( including size, composition, coverage and spacing of the external functional units) is achieved, representing a pre-requisite for exploring themore » underlying physics. Fine tuning of the emission characteristics through structural regulation is demonstrated by performing single-particle optical studies. Lastly, this study opens a rich toolbox to tailor properties of quantum emitters, which can facilitate design guidelines for devices based on nitrogen vacancy centres that use these freestanding hybrid nanostructures as building blocks.« less

Nanodiamond-based nanostructures for coupling nitrogen-vacancy centres to metal nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Jianxiao; Steinsultz, Nat; Ouyang, Min

2016-06-01

The ability to control the interaction between nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond and photonic and/or broadband plasmonic nanostructures is crucial for the development of solid-state quantum devices with optimum performance. However, existing methods typically employ top-down fabrication, which restrict scalable and feasible manipulation of nitrogen-vacancy centres. Here, we develop a general bottom-up approach to fabricate an emerging class of freestanding nanodiamond-based hybrid nanostructures with external functional units of either plasmonic nanoparticles or excitonic quantum dots. Precise control of the structural parameters (including size, composition, coverage and spacing of the external functional units) is achieved, representing a pre-requisite for exploring the underlying physics. Fine tuning of the emission characteristics through structural regulation is demonstrated by performing single-particle optical studies. This study opens a rich toolbox to tailor properties of quantum emitters, which can facilitate design guidelines for devices based on nitrogen-vacancy centres that use these freestanding hybrid nanostructures as building blocks.

Asymmetric variations in the tropical ascending branches of Hadley circulations and the associated mechanisms and effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Bo

2018-03-01

This study investigates the variations in the tropical ascending branches (TABs) of Hadley circulations (HCs) during past decades, using a variety of reanalysis datasets. The northern tropical ascending branch (NTAB) and the southern tropical ascending branch (STAB), which are defined as the ascending branches of the Northern Hemisphere HC and Southern Hemisphere HC, respectively, are identified and analyzed regarding their trends and variability. The reanalysis datasets consistently show a persistent increase in STAB during past decades, whereas they show less consistency in NTAB regarding its decadalto multidecadal variability, which generally features a decreasing trend. These asymmetric trends in STAB and NTAB are attributed to asymmetric trends in the tropical SSTs. The relationship between STAB/NTAB and tropical SSTs is further examined regarding their interannual and decadal- to multidecadal variability. On the interannual time scale, the STAB and NTAB are essentially modulated by the eastern-Pacific type of ENSO, with a strengthened (weakened) STAB (NTAB) under an El Niño condition. On the decadal- to multidecadal time scale, the variability of STAB and NTAB is closely related to the southern tropical SSTs and the meridional asymmetry of global tropical SSTs, respectively. The tropical eastern Pacific SSTs (southern tropical SSTs) dominate the tropical SST-NTAB/STAB relationship on the interannual (decadal- to multidecadal) scale, whereas the NTAB is a passive factor in this relationship. Moreover, a cross-hemispheric relationship between the NTAB/STAB and the HC upper-level meridional winds is revealed.

Redistribution of vegetation zones and populations of Larix sibirica Ledb. and Pinus sylvestris L. in central Siberia in a warming climate

Treesearch

N.M. Tchebakova; G.E. Rehfeldt; E.I. Parfenova

2003-01-01

Evidence for global warming over the past 200 years is overwhelming (Hulme et al. 1999), based on both direct weather observation and indirect physical and biological indicators such as retreating glaciers and snow/ice cover, increasing sea level, and longer growing seasons (IPCC 2001). Recent GCM projections of the Hadley Centre (Gordon et al. 2000) for Siberia show...

VLF Science at Indian Centre for Space Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakrabarti, Sandip Kumar

2016-07-01

Indian Centre for Space Physics has been monitoring VLF signals from stations around the world at its laboratories at Kolkata and Sitapur (Ionospheric and Earthquake Research Centre) as well as at several places throughout India when in a campaign mode. We have been interested to study high energy events from space, such as solar flares and gamma ray bursts. We have made studies during multiple solar eclipses and most importantly made substantial progress in the problem of lithosphere-ionosphere coupling while understanding various types of anomalies prior to major earthquakes. Other effects such as AGWs and LEPs are being studied. We have experience of two antarctic expedition and obtained VLF data from both Maitri and Bharati stations of India, which revealed, among other things, how the signal attenuation can indicate the extent of ice mass in Antarctica. We have been able to reproduce various VLF perturbation events using Atmospheric Chemical evolution model coupled with LWPC code. For instance we have reproduced solar flare induced VLF amplitude perturbation pattern by completely ab initio calculation. We also targeted the inverse problem, namely, deduction of the injected radiation spectra from space from the VLF signal alone, thereby establishing that the Earth can be used as a gigantic detector. These interesting results would be presented in my review talk.

Convergent close-coupling approach to positron scattering on He+★

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawlins, Charlie M.; Kadyrov, Alisher S.; Bray, Igor

2018-05-01

A close-coupling method is used to generate electron-loss and total scattering cross sections for the first three partial waves with both a single-centre and two-centre expansion of the scattering wave function for positron scattering on He +. The two expansions are consistent with each other above the ionisation threshold verifying newly-developed positronium-formation matrix elements. Below the positronium-formation threshold both the single- and two-centre results agree with the elastic-scattering cross sections generated from the phase shifts reported in previous calculations.

The clinical utility of PGD with HLA matching: a collaborative multi-centre ESHRE study.

PubMed

Kakourou, G; Kahraman, S; Ekmekci, G C; Tac, H A; Kourlaba, G; Kourkouni, E; Sanz, A Cervero; Martin, J; Malmgren, H; Giménez, C; Gold, V; Carvalho, F; Billi, C; Chow, J F C; Vendrell, X; Kokkali, G; Liss, J; Steffann, J; Traeger-Synodinos, J

2018-02-08

Has PGD-HLA been successful relative to diagnostic and clinical efficacy? The diagnostic efficacy of PGD-HLA protocols was found lower in this study in comparison to published PGD-HLA protocols and to that reported for general PGD by ESHRE (78.5 vs 94.1% and vs 92.6%, respectively), while the clinical efficacy has proven very difficult to assess due to inadequate follow-up of both the ART/PGD and HSCT procedure outcomes. The first clinical cases for PGD-HLA were reported in 2001. It is now a well-established procedure, with an increasing number of cycles performed every year. However, PGD-HLA is still offered by relatively few PGD centres, the currently available data is fragmented and most reports on PGD-HLA applications are limited in number and scope. Published systematic details on methodology, diagnostic results, overall ART success and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) outcomes are limited, precluding an evaluation of the true clinical utility of PGD-HLA cycles. This retrospective multi-centre cohort study aimed to investigate the diagnostic and clinical efficacy of the PGD-HLA procedure and the aspects of PGD-HLA cycles influencing positive outcomes: birth of genetically suitable donor-baby (or babies) and HSCT. In April 2014, 32 PGD centres (Consortium members and non-members) with published/known PGD-HLA activity were invited to participate. Between February and September 2015, 14 centres submitted their data, through a custom-designed secure database, with unique login access for each centre. Data parameters covered all aspects of PGD-HLA cycles (ART, embryology and genetic diagnosis), donor-babies born and HSCT. From 716 cycles submitted by 14 centres (performed between August 2001 and September 2015), the quality evaluation excluded 12 cycles, leaving 704, from 364 couples. The online database, based on REDCap, a free, secure, web-based data-capture application, was customized by Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO

Complete quantum control of exciton qubits bound to isoelectronic centres.

PubMed

Éthier-Majcher, G; St-Jean, P; Boso, G; Tosi, A; Klem, J F; Francoeur, S

2014-05-30

In recent years, impressive demonstrations related to quantum information processing have been realized. The scalability of quantum interactions between arbitrary qubits within an array remains however a significant hurdle to the practical realization of a quantum computer. Among the proposed ideas to achieve fully scalable quantum processing, the use of photons is appealing because they can mediate long-range quantum interactions and could serve as buses to build quantum networks. Quantum dots or nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond can be coupled to light, but the former system lacks optical homogeneity while the latter suffers from a low dipole moment, rendering their large-scale interconnection challenging. Here, through the complete quantum control of exciton qubits, we demonstrate that nitrogen isoelectronic centres in GaAs combine both the uniformity and predictability of atomic defects and the dipole moment of semiconductor quantum dots. This establishes isoelectronic centres as a promising platform for quantum information processing.

Predicting Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Modes with a Climate Modeling Hierarchy -- Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michael Ghil, UCLA; Andrew W. Robertson, IRI, Columbia Univ.; Sergey Kravtsov, U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

The goal of the project was to determine midlatitude climate predictability associated with tropical-extratropical interactions on interannual-to-interdecadal time scales. Our strategy was to develop and test a hierarchy of climate models, bringing together large GCM-based climate models with simple fluid-dynamical coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere models, through the use of advanced probabilistic network (PN) models. PN models were used to develop a new diagnostic methodology for analyzing coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions in large climate simulations made with the NCAR Parallel Climate Model (PCM), and to make these tools user-friendly and available to other researchers. We focused on interactions between the tropics and extratropics throughmore » atmospheric teleconnections (the Hadley cell, Rossby waves and nonlinear circulation regimes) over both the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and the ocean’s thermohaline circulation (THC) in the Atlantic. We tested the hypothesis that variations in the strength of the THC alter sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, and that the latter influence the atmosphere in high latitudes through an atmospheric teleconnection, feeding back onto the THC. The PN model framework was used to mediate between the understanding gained with simplified primitive equations models and multi-century simulations made with the PCM. The project team is interdisciplinary and built on an existing synergy between atmospheric and ocean scientists at UCLA, computer scientists at UCI, and climate researchers at the IRI.« less

Size and location of defects at the coupling interface affect lithotripter performance.

PubMed

Li, Guangyan; Williams, James C; Pishchalnikov, Yuri A; Liu, Ziyue; McAteer, James A

2012-12-01

Study Type--Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? In shock wave lithotripsy air pockets tend to get caught between the therapy head of the lithotripter and the skin of the patient. Defects at the coupling interface hinder the transmission of shock wave energy into the body, reducing the effectiveness of treatment. This in vitro study shows that ineffective coupling not only blocks the transmission of acoustic pulses but also alters the properties of shock waves involved in the mechanisms of stone breakage, with the effect dependent on the size and location of defects at the coupling interface. • To determine how the size and location of coupling defects caught between the therapy head of a lithotripter and the skin of a surrogate patient (i.e. the acoustic window of a test chamber) affect the features of shock waves responsible for stone breakage. • Model defects were placed in the coupling gel between the therapy head of a Dornier Compact-S electromagnetic lithotripter (Dornier MedTech, Kennesaw, GA, USA) and the Mylar (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) (DuPont Teijin Films, Chester, VA, USA) window of a water-filled coupling test system. • A fibre-optic probe hydrophone was used to measure acoustic pressures and map the lateral dimensions of the focal zone of the lithotripter. • The effect of coupling conditions on stone breakage was assessed using gypsum model stones. • Stone breakage decreased in proportion to the area of the coupling defect; a centrally located defect blocking only 18% of the transmission area reduced stone breakage by an average of almost 30%. • The effect on stone breakage was greater for defects located on-axis and decreased as the defect was moved laterally; an 18% defect located near the periphery of the coupling window (2.0 cm off-axis) reduced stone breakage by only ~15% compared to when coupling was completely unobstructed. • Defects centred

The impact of equilibrating hemispheric albedos on tropical performance in the HadGEM2-ES coupled climate model

DOE PAGES

Haywood, Jim M.; Jones, Andy; Dunstone, Nick; ...

2016-01-14

Despite the fact that the southern hemisphere contains a far greater proportion of dark ocean than the northern hemisphere, the total amount of sunlight reflected from the hemispheres is equal. However, the majority of climate models do not adequately represent this equivalence. Here we examine the impact of equilibrating hemispheric albedos by various idealised methods in a comprehensive coupled climate model and find significant improvements in what have been considered longstanding and apparently intractable model biases. Monsoon precipitation biases almost vanish over all continental land areas, the penetration of monsoon rainfall across the Sahel and the west African monsoon “jump”more » become well represented, and indicators of hurricane frequency are significantly improved. The results appear not to be model specific, implying that hemispheric albedo equivalence may provide a fundamental constraint for climate models that must be satisfied if the dynamics driving these processes, in particular the strength of the Hadley cell, are to be adequately represented. Cross-equatorial energy transport is implicated as a crucial component that must be accurately modelled in coupled general circulation models. The results also suggest that the commonly used practice of prescribing sea-surface temperatures in models provides a less accurate represention of precipitation than constraining the hemispheric albedos.« less

Electron- and positron-molecule scattering: development of the molecular convergent close-coupling method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zammit, Mark C.; Fursa, Dmitry V.; Savage, Jeremy S.; Bray, Igor

2017-06-01

Starting from first principles, this tutorial describes the development of the adiabatic-nuclei convergent close-coupling (CCC) method and its application to electron and (single-centre) positron scattering from diatomic molecules. We give full details of the single-centre expansion CCC method, namely the formulation of the molecular target structure; solving the momentum-space coupled-channel Lippmann-Schwinger equation; deriving adiabatic-nuclei cross sections and calculating V-matrix elements. Selected results are presented for electron and positron scattering from molecular hydrogen H2 and electron scattering from the vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen ion {{{H}}}2+ and its isotopologues (D2 +, {{{T}}}2+, HD+, HT+ and TD+). Convergence in both the close-coupling (target state) and projectile partial-wave expansions of fixed-nuclei electron- and positron-molecule scattering calculations is demonstrated over a broad energy-range and discussed in detail. In general, the CCC results are in good agreement with experiments.

Value of Bulk Heat Flux Parameterizations for Ocean SST Prediction

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

Generalized Digital Environmental Model ( GDEM ) climatology (NAVO- CEANO, 2003). The density difference values were chosen so that the layers tend to...Monthly mean temperature and salinity from the GDEM climatology in August are used to initialize the model. There is a relaxation to monthly mean SSS...and European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS) data are used in ERA-40. The SST/Ice data set produced by the Hadley Centre and National Oceanic and

Electron– and positron–molecule scattering: development of the molecular convergent close-coupling method

DOE PAGES

Zammit, Mark C.; Fursa, Dmitry V.; Savage, Jeremy S.; ...

2017-05-22

Starting from first principles, this tutorial describes the development of the adiabatic-nuclei convergent close-coupling (CCC) method and its application to electron and (single-centre) positron scattering from diatomic molecules. In this paper, we give full details of the single-centre expansion CCC method, namely the formulation of the molecular target structure; solving the momentum-space coupled-channel Lippmann-Schwinger equation; deriving adiabatic-nuclei cross sections and calculatingmore » $V$-matrix elements. Selected results are presented for electron and positron scattering from molecular hydrogen H$$_2$$ and electron scattering from the vibrationally excited molecular hydrogen ion H$$_2^+$$ and its isotopologues (D$$_2^+$$, T$$_2^+$$, HD$^+$, HT$^+$ and TD$^+$). Finally, convergence in both the close-coupling (target state) and projectile partial-wave expansions of fixed-nuclei electron- and positron-molecule scattering calculations is demonstrated over a broad energy-range and discussed in detail. In general the CCC results are in good agreement with experiments.« less

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Two-centre exchange integrals for complex exponent Slater orbitals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuang, Jiyun; Lin, C. D.

1996-12-01

The one-dimensional integral representation for the Fourier transform of a two-centre product of B functions (finite linear combinations of Slater orbitals) with real parameters is generalized to include B functions with complex parameters. This one-dimensional integral representation allows for an efficient method of calculating two-centre exchange integrals with plane-wave electronic translational factors (ETF) over Slater orbitals of real/complex exponents. This method is a significant improvement on the previous two-dimensional quadrature method of the integrals. A new basis set of the form 0953-4075/29/24/005/img1 is proposed to improve the description of pseudo-continuum states in the close-coupling treatment of ion - atom collisions.

Coupling of Indian and East Asian Monsoon Precipitation in July-August

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, J. A.; Fung, I. Y.; Risi, C. M.

2014-12-01

Recent work suggests that summer rainfall in the Indian and East Asian monsoons results from different mechanisms. The onset of intense convection in India is mediated by Hadley Cell transitions, whereas frontal rainfall in China (most notably during Meiyu season in June) arises from forced meridional convergence and zonal heat transport in the wake of the Tibetan Plateau. However, the leading mode of July-August interannual rainfall variability for All-Asia (defined as the region within 68E-140E and 5N-45N) demonstrates a statistically significant coupling between monthly anomalies in India and China. In particular, positive anomalies along the Himalayan Foothills are associated with positive anomalies along the Yangtze River, and also with negative anomalies over central India and northern and southern China. The entire pattern reverses in dry years over the Himalayan Foothills. This coupling is not significantly correlated with ENSO, the leading mode of global interannual variability. We propose that a channel of moisture transport links the Bay of Bengal to the Yangtze River valley across the high terrain of the Yunnan Plateau, on the southeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau. This channel only activates in July, when the maximum of moist static energy (MSE) shifts to land, and weakens in September with the cooling of Bay of Bengal SST. Our mechanism is substantiated by analysis of output from the LMDZ5 model, which includes a high-resolution nested grid nudged to reanalysis, improving the simulation of the Indian Monsoon and performance near high topography. Potential changes in moisture transport across the Yunnan Plateau under 21st century warming conditions may lead to modified interannual variability of Asian rainfall.

RTEMS Centre - Support and Maintenance Centre to RTEMS Operating System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, H.; Constantino, A.; Freitas, D.; Coutinho, M.; Faustino, S.; Mota, M.; Colaço, P.; Sousa, J.; Dias, L.; Damjanovic, B.; Zulianello, M.; Rufino, J.

2009-05-01

RTEMS CENTRE - Support and Maintenance Centre to RTEMS Operating System is a joint ESA/Portuguese Task Force initiative to develop a support and maintenance centre to the Real-Time Executive for Multiprocessor Systems (RTEMS). This paper gives a high level visibility of the progress, the results obtained and the future work in the RTEMS CENTRE [6] and in the RTEMS Improvement [7] projects. RTEMS CENTRE started officially in November 2006, with the RTEMS 4.6.99.2 version. A full analysis of RTEMS operating system was produced. The architecture was analysed in terms of conceptual, organizational and operational concepts. The original objectives [1] of the centre were primarily to create and maintain technical expertise and competences in this RTOS, to develop a website to provide the European Space Community an entry point for obtaining support (http://rtemscentre.edisoft.pt), to design, develop, maintain and integrate some RTEMS support tools (Timeline Tool, Configuration and Management Tools), to maintain flight libraries and Board Support Packages, to develop a strong relationship with the World RTEMS Community and finally to produce some considerations in ARINC-653, DO-178B and ECSS E-40 standards. RTEMS Improvement is the continuation of the RTEMS CENTRE. Currently the RTEMS, version 4.8.0, is being facilitated for a future qualification. In this work, the validation material is being produced following the Galileo Software Standards Development Assurance Level B [5]. RTEMS is being completely tested, errors analysed, dead and deactivated code removed and tests produced to achieve 100% statement and decision coverage of source code [2]. The SW to exploit the LEON Memory Management Unit (MMU) hardware will be also added. A brief description of the expected implementations will be given.

Using a Very Large Ensemble to Examine the Role of the Ocean in Recent Warming Trends.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparrow, S. N.; Millar, R.; Otto, A.; Yamazaki, K.; Allen, M. R.

2014-12-01

Results from a very large (~10,000 member) perturbed physics and perturbed initial condition ensemble are presented for the period 1980 to present. A set of model versions that can shadow recent surface and upper ocean observations are identified and the range of uncertainty in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) assessed. This experiment uses the Met Office Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (HadCM3), a coupled model with fully dynamic atmosphere and ocean components as part of the climateprediction.net distributive computing project. Parameters are selected so that the model has good top of atmosphere radiative balance and simulations are run without flux adjustments that "nudge" the climate towards a realistic state, but have an adverse effect on important ocean processes. This ensemble provides scientific insights on the possible role of the AMOC, among other factors, in climate trends, or lack thereof, over the past 20 years. This ensemble is also used to explore how the occurrence of hiatus events of different durations varies for models with different transient climate response (TCR). We show that models with a higher TCR are less likely to produce a 15-year warming hiatus in global surface temperature than those with a lower TCR.

Birth centre confinement at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre. I. Obstetric and neonatal outcome.

PubMed

Campbell, J; Hudson, H; Lumley, J; Morris, N; Rao, J; Spensley, J

1981-10-03

A review of hte first 175 confinements at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre Birth Centre is presented. The design, structure and function of hte Birth Centre is described and the safety of the programme demonstrated. Seventy-four pregnancies (42%) accepted for Birth Centre confinement required transfer because of antepartum or intrapartum complications. There were satisfactory obstetric and neonatal outcomes in all pregnancies. The first year's experience has allowed a reassessment of the risk factors, which will permit greater use of the Birth Centre without any increases risk to mothers or babies.

The Search for Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nunes, April

2006-01-01

This paper acknowledges the importance of a dancer's centre but likewise highlights the problematic nature of the communication of this concept from dance teacher to student. After a brief introduction of orthodox approaches in finding centre, this paper suggests a method of locating centre through the ancient somatic technique.

Coupling of individual quantum emitters to channel plasmons.

PubMed

Bermúdez-Ureña, Esteban; Gonzalez-Ballestero, Carlos; Geiselmann, Michael; Marty, Renaud; Radko, Ilya P; Holmgaard, Tobias; Alaverdyan, Yury; Moreno, Esteban; García-Vidal, Francisco J; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I; Quidant, Romain

2015-08-07

Efficient light-matter interaction lies at the heart of many emerging technologies that seek on-chip integration of solid-state photonic systems. Plasmonic waveguides, which guide the radiation in the form of strongly confined surface plasmon-polariton modes, represent a promising solution to manipulate single photons in coplanar architectures with unprecedented small footprints. Here we demonstrate coupling of the emission from a single quantum emitter to the channel plasmon polaritons supported by a V-groove plasmonic waveguide. Extensive theoretical simulations enable us to determine the position and orientation of the quantum emitter for optimum coupling. Concomitantly with these predictions, we demonstrate experimentally that 42% of a single nitrogen-vacancy centre emission efficiently couples into the supported modes of the V-groove. This work paves the way towards practical realization of efficient and long distance transfer of energy for integrated solid-state quantum systems.

Non-intrusive tunable resonant microwave cavity for optical detected magnetic resonance of NV centres in nanodiamonds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Floch, Jean-Michel; Bradac, Carlo; Volz, Thomas; Tobar, Michael E.; Castelletto, Stefania

2013-12-01

Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) in nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres is usually achieved by applying a microwave field delivered by micron-size wires, strips or antennas directly positioned in very close proximity (~ μm) of the nanodiamond crystals. The microwave field couples evanescently with the ground state spin transition of the NV centre (2.87 GHz at zero magnetic field), which results in a reduction of the centre photoluminescence. We propose an alternative approach based on the construction of a dielectric resonator. We show that such a resonator allows for the efficient detection of NV spins in nanodiamonds without the constraints associated to the laborious positioning of the microwave antenna next to the nanodiamonds, providing therefore improved flexibility. The resonator is based on a tunable Transverse Electric Mode in a dielectric-loaded cavity, and we demonstrate that the resonator can detect single NV centre spins in nanodiamonds using less microwave power than alternative techniques in a non-intrusive manner. This method can achieve higher precision measurement of ODMR of paramagnetic defects spin transition in the micro to millimetre-wave frequency domain. Our approach would permit the tracking of NV centres in biological solutions rather than simply on the surface, which is desirable in light of the recently proposed applications of using nanodiamonds containing NV centres for spin labelling in biological systems with single spin and single particle resolution.

Measuring the childbearing motivation of couples referred to the Shiraz Health Center for premarital examinations.

PubMed

Pezeshki, Mohammad Z; Zeighami, Bahram; Miller, Warren B

2005-01-01

Millions of children who were born during the first decade after the Islamic revolution in Iran are now reaching the age of marriage and childbearing. Short spacing between marriage and the birth of the first child has the potential to cause an excessive and costly increase in the growth of population in Iran. Research into the motivations for the birth of first child among newly married couples can create a knowledge base that will enable health centres to help these couples make better decisions about the timing of their first pregnancy. Using a consecutive sampling technique and administering Miller's Childbearing Questionnaire, data were gathered regarding the childbearing motivations and desires of 300 couples who had been referred to the Shiraz Health Center for premarital counselling. The Childbearing Questionnaire, with some minor modifications, was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the childbearing motivations of newly married couples of Shiraz County, Fars Province, Iran. The utility of these findings for counselling in health centres is discussed. Based on the results, a longitudinal study is being designed that will allow the development of models for predicting the time of first pregnancy after marriage.

The Carbon-Land Model Intercomparison Project (C-LAMP): A Model-Data Comparison System for Evaluation of Coupled Biosphere-Atmosphere Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoffman, Forrest M; Randerson, Jim; Thornton, Peter E

2009-01-01

The need to capture important climate feebacks in general circulation models (GCMs) has resulted in new efforts to include atmospheric chemistry and land and ocean biogeochemistry into the next generation of production climate models, now often referred to as Earth System Models (ESMs). While many terrestrial and ocean carbon models have been coupled to GCMs, recent work has shown that such models can yield a wide range of results, suggesting that a more rigorous set of offline and partially coupled experiments, along with detailed analyses of processes and comparisons with measurements, are warranted. The Carbon-Land Model Intercomparison Project (C-LAMP) providesmore » a simulation protocol and model performance metrics based upon comparisons against best-available satellite- and ground-based measurements (Hoffman et al., 2007). C-LAMP provides feedback to the modeling community regarding model improvements and to the measurement community by suggesting new observational campaigns. C-LAMP Experiment 1 consists of a set of uncoupled simulations of terrestrial carbon models specifically designed to examine the ability of the models to reproduce surface carbon and energy fluxes at multiple sites and to exhibit the influence of climate variability, prescribed atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), nitrogen (N) deposition, and land cover change on projections of terrestrial carbon fluxes during the 20th century. Experiment 2 consists of partially coupled simulations of the terrestrial carbon model with an active atmosphere model exchanging energy and moisture fluxes. In all experiments, atmospheric CO{sub 2} follows the prescribed historical trajectory from C{sup 4}MIP. In Experiment 2, the atmosphere model is forced with prescribed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and corresponding sea ice concentrations from the Hadley Centre; prescribed CO{sub 2} is radiatively active; and land, fossil fuel, and ocean CO{sub 2} fluxes are advected by the model. Both sets of

Multidimensional joint coupling: a case study visualisation approach to movement coordination and variability.

PubMed

Irwin, Gareth; Kerwin, David G; Williams, Genevieve; Van Emmerik, Richard E A; Newell, Karl M; Hamill, Joseph

2018-06-18

A case study visualisation approach to examining the coordination and variability of multiple interacting segments is presented using a whole-body gymnastic skill as the task example. One elite male gymnast performed 10 trials of 10 longswings whilst three-dimensional locations of joint centres were tracked using a motion analysis system. Segment angles were used to define coupling between the arms and trunk, trunk and thighs and thighs and shanks. Rectified continuous relative phase profiles for each interacting couple for 80 longswings were produced. Graphical representations of coordination couplings are presented that include the traditional single coupling, followed by the relational dynamics of two couplings and finally three couplings simultaneously plotted. This method highlights the power of visualisation of movement dynamics and identifies properties of the global interacting segmental couplings that a more formal analysis may not reveal. Visualisation precedes and informs the appropriate qualitative and quantitative analysis of the dynamics.

Exploring coupled 4D-Var data assimilation using an idealised atmosphere-ocean model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Polly; Fowler, Alison; Lawless, Amos; Haines, Keith

2014-05-01

The successful application of data assimilation techniques to operational numerical weather prediction and ocean forecasting systems has led to an increased interest in their use for the initialisation of coupled atmosphere-ocean models in prediction on seasonal to decadal timescales. Coupled data assimilation presents a significant challenge but offers a long list of potential benefits including improved use of near-surface observations, reduction of initialisation shocks in coupled forecasts, and generation of a consistent system state for the initialisation of coupled forecasts across all timescales. In this work we explore some of the fundamental questions in the design of coupled data assimilation systems within the context of an idealised one-dimensional coupled atmosphere-ocean model. The system is based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecast System (IFS) atmosphere model and a K-Profile Parameterisation (KKP) mixed layer ocean model developed by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) climate group at the University of Reading. It employs a strong constraint incremental 4D-Var scheme and is designed to enable the effective exploration of various approaches to performing coupled model data assimilation whilst avoiding many of the issues associated with more complex models. Working with this simple framework enables a greater range and quantity of experiments to be performed. Here, we will describe the development of our simplified single-column coupled atmosphere-ocean 4D-Var assimilation system and present preliminary results from a series of identical twin experiments devised to investigate and compare the behaviour and sensitivities of different coupled data assimilation methodologies. This includes comparing fully and weakly coupled assimilations with uncoupled assimilation, investigating whether coupled assimilation can eliminate or lessen initialisation shock in coupled model forecasts, and

Interannual Variability of Regional Hadley Circulation Intensity Over Western Pacific During Boreal Winter and Its Climatic Impact Over Asia-Australia Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ruping; Chen, Shangfeng; Chen, Wen; Hu, Peng

2018-01-01

This study investigates interannual variability of boreal winter regional Hadley circulation over western Pacific (WPHC) and its climatic impacts. A WPHC intensity index (WPHCI) is defined as the vertical shear of the divergent meridional winds. It shows that WPHCI correlates well with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). To investigate roles of the ENSO-unrelated part of WPHCI (WPHCIres), variables that are linearly related to the Niño-3 index have been removed. It reveals that meridional sea surface temperature gradient over the western Pacific plays an essential role in modulating the WPHCIres. The climatic impacts of WPHCIres are further investigated. Below-normal (above-normal) precipitation appears over south China (North Australia) when WPHCIres is stronger. This is due to the marked convergence (divergence) anomalies at the upper troposphere, divergence (convergence) at the lower troposphere, and the accompanied downward (upward) motion over south China (North Australia), which suppresses (enhances) precipitation there. In addition, a pronounced increase in surface air temperature (SAT) appears over south and central China when WPHCIres is stronger. A temperature diagnostic analysis suggests that the increase in SAT tendency over central China is primarily due to the warm zonal temperature advection and subsidence-induced adiabatic heating. In addition, the increase in SAT tendency over south China is primarily contributed by the warm meridional temperature advection. Further analysis shows that the correlation of WPHCIres with the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is weak. Thus, this study may provide additional sources besides EAWM and ENSO to improve understanding of the Asia-Australia climate variability.

PREFACE: Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neilson, David; Senatore, Gaetano

2009-05-01

, condensed matter and ultra-cold plasmas. One hundred and thirty participants came from twenty countries and four continents to participate in the conference. Those giving presentations were asked to contribute to this special issue to make a representative record of an interesting conference. We thank the International Advisory Board and the Programme Committee for their support and suggestions. We thank the Local Organizing Committee (Stefania De Palo, Vittorio Pellegrini, Andrea Perali and Pierbiagio Pieri) for all their efforts. We highlight for special mention the dedication displayed by Andrea Perali, by Rocco di Marco for computer support, and by our tireless conference secretary Fiorella Paino. The knowledgeable guided tour of the historic centre of Camerino given by Fiorella Paino was appreciated by many participants. It is no exaggeration to say that without the extraordinary efforts put in by these three, the conference could not have been the success that it was. For their sustained interest and support we thank Fulvio Esposito, Rector of the University of Camerino, Fabio Beltram, Director of NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, and Daniel Cox, Co-Director of ICAM, University of California at Davis. We thank the Institute of Complex and Adaptive Matter ICAM-I2CAM, USA for providing a video record of the conference on the web (found at http://sccs2008.df.unicam.it/). Finally we thank the conference sponsors for their very generous support: the University of Camerino, the Institute of Complex and Adaptive Matter ICAM-I2CAM, USA, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics ICTP Trieste, and CNR-INFM DEMOCRITOS Modeling Center for Research in Atomistic Simulation, Trieste. Participants at the International Conference on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems (SCCS) (University of Camerino, Italy, 29 July-2 August 2008).

Effects of unstratified and centre-stratified randomization in multi-centre clinical trials.

PubMed

Anisimov, Vladimir V

2011-01-01

This paper deals with the analysis of randomization effects in multi-centre clinical trials. The two randomization schemes most often used in clinical trials are considered: unstratified and centre-stratified block-permuted randomization. The prediction of the number of patients randomized to different treatment arms in different regions during the recruitment period accounting for the stochastic nature of the recruitment and effects of multiple centres is investigated. A new analytic approach using a Poisson-gamma patient recruitment model (patients arrive at different centres according to Poisson processes with rates sampled from a gamma distributed population) and its further extensions is proposed. Closed-form expressions for corresponding distributions of the predicted number of the patients randomized in different regions are derived. In the case of two treatments, the properties of the total imbalance in the number of patients on treatment arms caused by using centre-stratified randomization are investigated and for a large number of centres a normal approximation of imbalance is proved. The impact of imbalance on the power of the study is considered. It is shown that the loss of statistical power is practically negligible and can be compensated by a minor increase in sample size. The influence of patient dropout is also investigated. The impact of randomization on predicted drug supply overage is discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Operational coupled atmosphere - ocean - ice forecast system for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faucher, M.; Roy, F.; Desjardins, S.; Fogarty, C.; Pellerin, P.; Ritchie, H.; Denis, B.

2009-09-01

A fully interactive coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice forecasting system for the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) has been running in experimental mode at the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) for the last two winter seasons. The goal of this project is to provide more accurate weather and sea ice forecasts over the GSL and adjacent coastal areas by including atmosphere-oceanice interactions in the CMC operational forecast system using a formal coupling strategy between two independent modeling components. The atmospheric component is the Canadian operational GEM model (Côté et al. 1998) and the oceanic component is the ocean-ice model for the Gulf of St. Lawrence developed at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute (IML) (Saucier et al. 2003, 2004). The coupling between those two models is achieved by exchanging surface fluxes and variables through MPI communication. The re-gridding of the variables is done with a package developed at the Recherche en Prevision Numerique centre (RPN, Canada). Coupled atmosphere - ocean - ice forecasts are issued once a day based on 00GMT data. Results for the past two years have demonstrated that the coupled system produces improved forecasts in and around the GSL during all seasons, proving that atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions are indeed important even for short-term Canadian weather forecasts. This has important implications for other coupled modeling and data assimilation partnerships that are in progress involving EC, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the National Defense (DND). Following this experimental phase, it is anticipated that this GSL system will be the first fully interactive coupled system to be implemented at CMC.

Defining and describing birth centres in the Netherlands - a component study of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

PubMed

Hermus, M A A; Boesveld, I C; Hitzert, M; Franx, A; de Graaf, J P; Steegers, E A P; Wiegers, T A; van der Pal-de Bruin, K M

2017-07-03

During the last decade, a rapid increase of birth locations for low-risk births, other than conventional obstetric units, has been seen in the Netherlands. Internationally some of such locations are called birth centres. The varying international definitions for birth centres are not directly applicable for use within the Dutch obstetric system. A standard definition for a birth centre in the Netherlands is lacking. This study aimed to develop a definition of birth centres for use in the Netherlands, to identify these centres and to describe their characteristics. International definitions of birth centres were analysed to find common descriptions. In July 2013 the Dutch Birth Centre Questionnaire was sent to 46 selected Dutch birth locations that might qualify as birth centre. Questions included: location, reason for establishment, women served, philosophies, facilities that support physiological birth, hotel-facilities, management, environment and transfer procedures in case of referral. Birth centres were visited to confirm the findings from the Dutch Birth Centre Questionnaire and to measure distance and time in case of referral to obstetric care. From all 46 birth locations the questionnaires were received. Based on this information a Dutch definition of a birth centre was constructed. This definition reads: "Birth centres are midwifery-managed locations that offer care to low risk women during labour and birth. They have a homelike environment and provide facilities to support physiological birth. Community midwives take primary professional responsibility for care. In case of referral the obstetric caregiver takes over the professional responsibility of care." Of the 46 selected birth locations 23 fulfilled this definition. Three types of birth centres were distinguished based on their location in relation to the nearest obstetric unit: freestanding (n = 3), alongside (n = 14) and on-site (n = 6). Transfer in case of referral was necessary for all

Birth centre confinement at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre: four years' experience.

PubMed

Morris, N; Campbell, J; Biro, M A; Lumley, J; Rao, J; Spensley, J

1986-06-09

A review of the first four years of the functioning of the birth centre at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre is presented. In that time, 1040 pregnant women were accepted for confinement there. Of these, 52 withdrew for non-obstetric reasons, while 470 were transferred to alternative obstetrical care--274 because of antepartum complications and 196 because of intrapartum problems. Therefore, 518 women were delivered in the birth centre. The care of the women is entrusted almost entirely to a team of midwives and this review demonstrates an enviable safety record.

Coherent coupling of a superconducting flux qubit to an electron spin ensemble in diamond.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaobo; Saito, Shiro; Kemp, Alexander; Kakuyanagi, Kosuke; Karimoto, Shin-ichi; Nakano, Hayato; Munro, William J; Tokura, Yasuhiro; Everitt, Mark S; Nemoto, Kae; Kasu, Makoto; Mizuochi, Norikazu; Semba, Kouichi

2011-10-12

During the past decade, research into superconducting quantum bits (qubits) based on Josephson junctions has made rapid progress. Many foundational experiments have been performed, and superconducting qubits are now considered one of the most promising systems for quantum information processing. However, the experimentally reported coherence times are likely to be insufficient for future large-scale quantum computation. A natural solution to this problem is a dedicated engineered quantum memory based on atomic and molecular systems. The question of whether coherent quantum coupling is possible between such natural systems and a single macroscopic artificial atom has attracted considerable attention since the first demonstration of macroscopic quantum coherence in Josephson junction circuits. Here we report evidence of coherent strong coupling between a single macroscopic superconducting artificial atom (a flux qubit) and an ensemble of electron spins in the form of nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond. Furthermore, we have observed coherent exchange of a single quantum of energy between a flux qubit and a macroscopic ensemble consisting of about 3 × 10(7) such colour centres. This provides a foundation for future quantum memories and hybrid devices coupling microwave and optical systems.

Projected changes in rainfall and temperature over homogeneous regions of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patwardhan, Savita; Kulkarni, Ashwini; Rao, K. Koteswara

2018-01-01

The impact of climate change on the characteristics of seasonal maximum and minimum temperature and seasonal summer monsoon rainfall is assessed over five homogeneous regions of India using a high-resolution regional climate model. Providing REgional Climate for Climate Studies (PRECIS) is developed at Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, UK. The model simulations are carried out over South Asian domain for the continuous period of 1961-2098 at 50-km horizontal resolution. Here, three simulations from a 17-member perturbed physics ensemble (PPE) produced using HadCM3 under the Quantifying Model Uncertainties in Model Predictions (QUMP) project of Hadley Centre, Met. Office, UK, have been used as lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) for the 138-year simulations of the regional climate model under Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B scenario. The projections indicate the increase in the summer monsoon (June through September) rainfall over all the homogeneous regions (15 to 19%) except peninsular India (around 5%). There may be marginal change in the frequency of medium and heavy rainfall events (>20 mm) towards the end of the present century. The analysis over five homogeneous regions indicates that the mean maximum surface air temperatures for the pre-monsoon season (March-April-May) as well as the mean minimum surface air temperature for winter season (January-February) may be warmer by around 4 °C towards the end of the twenty-first century.

Patient-centred quality of care in an IVF programme evaluated by men and women.

PubMed

Holter, Herborg; Sandin-Bojö, Ann-Kristin; Gejervall, Ann-Louise; Wikland, Matts; Wilde-Larsson, Bodil; Bergh, Christina

2014-12-01

Do men and women value the same aspects of quality of care during IVF treatment when measuring rates of importance by the validated instrument, quality from the patient's perspective of in vitro fertilization (QPP-IVF)? Women valued most aspects of care as significantly more important than their partner although men and women evaluated the importance of the different care factors in a similar pattern. A few validated tools measuring patient-centred quality of care during IVF have been developed. Few studies of gender differences concerning experiences of patient-centred quality of care have been reported in the literature to date. A two-centre study was conducted between September 2011 and May 2012. Heterosexual couples (n = 497) undergoing IVF were invited to complete a questionnaire before receiving the result of the pregnancy test. In all, 363 women and 292 men evaluated quality of care by answering the QPP-IVF questionnaire. The measurements consisted of two kinds of evaluations: the rating of the importance of various aspects of treatment (subjective importance) and the rating of perceived quality of care (perceived reality). Comparisons between men and women on importance ratings and perceived reality ratings were performed both on factor (subscale) and single item levels by intra-couple analyses and corrected for age. A stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed in order to select baseline variables independently predicting evaluation at factor level. The response rate was 67.5%, with 363 women (74.2%) and 292 men (60.6%) completing the study. Both the woman and man responded in 251 couples. Women rated the different care aspects as significantly more important than their partner in all factors except the factor, 'Responsibility/continuity'. Both genders gave the factors, 'Medical care' and 'Information after treatment', the highest scores. At item level women rated the majority of items as significantly more important than men. Perceived

LASER APPLICATIONS AND OTHER TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS: Analysis of the absorption spectra and spectral hole burning in zero-phonon lines of F+3 and N1 colour centres in LiF crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedorov, A. V.; Martyshkin, D. V.; Fedorov, V. V.

2010-09-01

The temperature dependences and mechanisms of broadening of zero-phonon lines of F+3 (488 nm) and N1 (523 nm) colour centres in LiF crystals are investigated. The results obtained make it possible to determine the quadratic electronic—vibrational coupling constant for N1 colour centres. The experimental data on the spectral hole burning in zero-phonon lines of F+3 and N1 colour centres indicate that the latter are positively charged.

Perceptual centres in speech - an acoustic analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, Sophie Kerttu

Perceptual centres, or P-centres, represent the perceptual moments of occurrence of acoustic signals - the 'beat' of a sound. P-centres underlie the perception and production of rhythm in perceptually regular speech sequences. P-centres have been modelled both in speech and non speech (music) domains. The three aims of this thesis were toatest out current P-centre models to determine which best accounted for the experimental data bto identify a candidate parameter to map P-centres onto (a local approach) as opposed to the previous global models which rely upon the whole signal to determine the P-centre the final aim was to develop a model of P-centre location which could be applied to speech and non speech signals. The first aim was investigated by a series of experiments in which a) speech from different speakers was investigated to determine whether different models could account for variation between speakers b) whether rendering the amplitude time plot of a speech signal affects the P-centre of the signal c) whether increasing the amplitude at the offset of a speech signal alters P-centres in the production and perception of speech. The second aim was carried out by a) manipulating the rise time of different speech signals to determine whether the P-centre was affected, and whether the type of speech sound ramped affected the P-centre shift b) manipulating the rise time and decay time of a synthetic vowel to determine whether the onset alteration was had more affect on P-centre than the offset manipulation c) and whether the duration of a vowel affected the P-centre, if other attributes (amplitude, spectral contents) were held constant. The third aim - modelling P-centres - was based on these results. The Frequency dependent Amplitude Increase Model of P-centre location (FAIM) was developed using a modelling protocol, the APU GammaTone Filterbank and the speech from different speakers. The P-centres of the stimuli corpus were highly predicted by attributes of

Simulation of seasonal anomalies of atmospheric circulation using coupled atmosphere-ocean model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tolstykh, M. A.; Diansky, N. A.; Gusev, A. V.; Kiktev, D. B.

2014-03-01

A coupled atmosphere-ocean model intended for the simulation of coupled circulation at time scales up to a season is developed. The semi-Lagrangian atmospheric general circulation model of the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia, SLAV, is coupled with the sigma model of ocean general circulation developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS), INMOM. Using this coupled model, numerical experiments on ensemble modeling of the atmosphere and ocean circulation for up to 4 months are carried out using real initial data for all seasons of an annual cycle in 1989-2010. Results of these experiments are compared to the results of the SLAV model with the simple evolution of the sea surface temperature. A comparative analysis of seasonally averaged anomalies of atmospheric circulation shows prospects in applying the coupled model for forecasts. It is shown with the example of the El Niño phenomenon of 1997-1998 that the coupled model forecasts the seasonally averaged anomalies for the period of the nonstationary El Niño phase significantly better.

RTEMS CENTRE- Support and Maintenance CENTRE to RTEMS Operating System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, H.; Constantino, A.; Coutunho, M.; Freitas, D.; Faustino, S.; Mota, M.; Colaço, P.; Zulianello, M.

2008-08-01

RTEMS stands for Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems. It is a full featured Real Time Operating System that supports a variety of open APIs and interface standards. It provides a high performance environment for embedded applications, including a fixed-priority preemptive/non-preemptive scheduler, a comprehensive set of multitasking operations and a large range of supported architectures. Support and maintenance CENTRE to RTEMS operating system (RTEMS CENTRE) is a joint initiative of ESA-Portugal Task force, aiming to build a strong technical competence in the space flight (on- board) software, to offer support, maintenance and improvements to RTEMS. This paper provides a high level description of the current and future activities of the RTEMS CENTRE. It presents a brief description of the RTEMS operating system, a description of the tools developed and distributed to the community [1] and the improvements to be made to the operating system, including facilitation for the qualification of RTEMS (4.8.0) [2] for the space missions.

Intraband Raman laser gain in a boron nitride coupled quantum well

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moorthy, N. Narayana; Peter, A. John, E-mail: a.john.peter@gmail.com

2016-05-23

On-centre impurity related electronic and optical properties are studied in a Boron nitride coupled quantum well. Confined energies for the intraband transition are investigated by studying differential cross section of electron Raman scattering taking into consideration of spatial confinement in a B{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N/BN coupled quantum well. Raman gain as a function of incident optical pump intensity is computed for constant well width. The enhancement of Raman gain is observed with the application of pump power. The results can be applied for the potential applications for fabricating some optical devices such as optical switches, infrared photo-detectors and electro-optical modulator.

Cooling a Mechanical Resonator with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centres Using a Room Temperature Excited State Spin-Strain Interaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MacQuarrie, E. R.; Otten, M.; Gray, S. K.

Cooling a mechanical resonator mode to a sub-thermal state has been a long-standing challenge in physics. This pursuit has recently found traction in the field of optomechanics in which a mechanical mode is coupled to an optical cavity. An alternate method is to couple the resonator to a well-controlled two-level system. Here we propose a protocol to dissipatively cool a room temperature mechanical resonator using a nitrogen-vacancy centre ensemble. The spin ensemble is coupled to the resonator through its orbitally-averaged excited state, which has a spin-strain interaction that has not been previously studied. We experimentally demonstrate that the spin-strain couplingmore » in the excited state is 13.5 ± 0.5 times stronger than the ground state spin-strain coupling. Lastly, we then theoretically show that this interaction, combined with a high-density spin ensemble, enables the cooling of a mechanical resonator from room temperature to a fraction of its thermal phonon occupancy.« less

Cooling a Mechanical Resonator with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centres Using a Room Temperature Excited State Spin-Strain Interaction

DOE PAGES

MacQuarrie, E. R.; Otten, M.; Gray, S. K.; ...

2017-02-06

Cooling a mechanical resonator mode to a sub-thermal state has been a long-standing challenge in physics. This pursuit has recently found traction in the field of optomechanics in which a mechanical mode is coupled to an optical cavity. An alternate method is to couple the resonator to a well-controlled two-level system. Here we propose a protocol to dissipatively cool a room temperature mechanical resonator using a nitrogen-vacancy centre ensemble. The spin ensemble is coupled to the resonator through its orbitally-averaged excited state, which has a spin-strain interaction that has not been previously studied. We experimentally demonstrate that the spin-strain couplingmore » in the excited state is 13.5 ± 0.5 times stronger than the ground state spin-strain coupling. Lastly, we then theoretically show that this interaction, combined with a high-density spin ensemble, enables the cooling of a mechanical resonator from room temperature to a fraction of its thermal phonon occupancy.« less

Future Projections of Air Temperature and Precipitation for the CORDEX-MENA Domain by Using RegCM4.3.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozturk, Tugba; Turp, M. Tufan; Türkeş, Murat; Kurnaz, M. Levent

2015-04-01

In this study, the projected changes for the periods of 2016 - 2035, 2046 - 2065, and 2081 - 2100 in the seasonal averages of air temperature and precipitation variables with respect to the reference period of 1981 - 2000 were examined for the Middle East and North Africa region. In this context, Regional Climate Model (RegCM4.3.5) of ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics) was run by using two different global climate models. MPI-ESM-MR global climate model of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and HadGEM2 of the Met Office Hadley Centre were dynamically downscaled to 50 km for the CORDEX-MENA domain. The projections were realized according to the RCP4.5 and the RCP8.5 emission scenarios of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change).

Indian Ocean and Indian summer monsoon: relationships without ENSO in ocean-atmosphere coupled simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crétat, Julien; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sébastien; Sooraj, K. P.; Roxy, Mathew Koll

2017-08-01

The relationship between the Indian Ocean and the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and their respective influence over the Indo-Western North Pacific (WNP) region are examined in the absence of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in two partially decoupled global experiments. ENSO is removed by nudging the tropical Pacific simulated sea surface temperature (SST) toward SST climatology from either observations or a fully coupled control run. The control reasonably captures the observed relationships between ENSO, ISM and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Despite weaker amplitude, IODs do exist in the absence of ENSO and are triggered by a boreal spring ocean-atmosphere coupled mode over the South-East Indian Ocean similar to that found in the presence of ENSO. These pure IODs significantly affect the tropical Indian Ocean throughout boreal summer, inducing a significant modulation of both the local Walker and Hadley cells. This meridional circulation is masked in the presence of ENSO. However, these pure IODs do not significantly influence the Indian subcontinent rainfall despite overestimated SST variability in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean compared to observations. On the other hand, they promote a late summer cross-equatorial quadrupole rainfall pattern linking the tropical Indian Ocean with the WNP, inducing important zonal shifts of the Walker circulation despite the absence of ENSO. Surprisingly, the interannual ISM rainfall variability is barely modified and the Indian Ocean does not force the monsoon circulation when ENSO is removed. On the contrary, the monsoon circulation significantly forces the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal SSTs, while its connection with the western tropical Indian Ocean is clearly driven by ENSO in our numerical framework. Convection and diabatic heating associated with above-normal ISM induce a strong response over the WNP, even in the absence of ENSO, favoring moisture convergence over India.

The politics of patient-centred care.

PubMed

Kreindler, Sara A

2015-10-01

Despite widespread belief in the importance of patient-centred care, it remains difficult to create a system in which all groups work together for the good of the patient. Part of the problem may be that the issue of patient-centred care itself can be used to prosecute intergroup conflict. This qualitative study of texts examined the presence and nature of intergroup language within the discourse on patient-centred care. A systematic SCOPUS and Google search identified 85 peer-reviewed and grey literature reports that engaged with the concept of patient-centred care. Discourse analysis, informed by the social identity approach, examined how writers defined and portrayed various groups. Managers, physicians and nurses all used the discourse of patient-centred care to imply that their own group was patient centred while other group(s) were not. Patient organizations tended to downplay or even deny the role of managers and providers in promoting patient centredness, and some used the concept to advocate for controversial health policies. Intergroup themes were even more obvious in the rhetoric of political groups across the ideological spectrum. In contrast to accounts that juxtaposed in-groups and out-groups, those from reportedly patient-centred organizations defined a 'mosaic' in-group that encompassed managers, providers and patients. The seemingly benign concept of patient-centred care can easily become a weapon on an intergroup battlefield. Understanding this dimension may help organizations resolve the intergroup tensions that prevent collective achievement of a patient-centred system. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Decadal climate prediction (project GCEP).

PubMed

Haines, Keith; Hermanson, Leon; Liu, Chunlei; Putt, Debbie; Sutton, Rowan; Iwi, Alan; Smith, Doug

2009-03-13

Decadal prediction uses climate models forced by changing greenhouse gases, as in the International Panel for Climate Change, but unlike longer range predictions they also require initialization with observations of the current climate. In particular, the upper-ocean heat content and circulation have a critical influence. Decadal prediction is still in its infancy and there is an urgent need to understand the important processes that determine predictability on these timescales. We have taken the first Hadley Centre Decadal Prediction System (DePreSys) and implemented it on several NERC institute compute clusters in order to study a wider range of initial condition impacts on decadal forecasting, eventually including the state of the land and cryosphere. The eScience methods are used to manage submission and output from the many ensemble model runs required to assess predictive skill. Early results suggest initial condition skill may extend for several years, even over land areas, but this depends sensitively on the definition used to measure skill, and alternatives are presented. The Grid for Coupled Ensemble Prediction (GCEP) system will allow the UK academic community to contribute to international experiments being planned to explore decadal climate predictability.

Investigation of the Moisture Recycling Ratio over South America: A Modelling Approach using HadCM3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charan Pattnayak, Kanhu; Gloor, Emanuel; Tindall, Julia; Briener, Roel

2017-04-01

It is a well-known fact that precipitation relies on terrestrial evaporation (moisture recycling). This study makes use of new definitions of moisture recycling from van der Ent, et al. 2010 to study the complete process of continental moisture feedback. Earlier studies have shown that there exist many regions over the globe that relies heavily on recycled moisture as well as that supplies moisture. In South America, the Río de la Plata basin depends on evaporation from the Amazon forest for 70% of its water resources. Stable water isotope (δ18O) can be used, as a good proxy for precipitation and it is a better tool to study convective processes and hydrological cycle. Analysing the δ18O would help to identify the moisture source for precipitation. In this study, we try to explain to the relation between δ18O and the moisture recycling ratio using atmospheric component of Hadley Centre Coupled Climate Model (HadCM3). And also we analyse the impact of land cover change on δ18O and the moisture recycling ratio. Further, we will analyse the changes of moisture recycling pattern from pre-industrial to the present scenario.

Modulation of Heavy Rainfall in the Middle East and North Africa by Madden-Julian Oscillation Using High Resolution Atmospheric General Circulation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, L.; Stenchikov, G. L.; McCabe, M. F.; Bangalath, H. K.

2014-12-01

Recently, the modulation of subtropical rainfall by the dominant tropical intraseasonal signal of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), has been explored through the discussion of the MJO-convection-induced Kelvin and Rossby wave related teleconnection patterns. Our study focuses on characterizing the modulation of heavy rainfall in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by the MJO, using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) global High Resolution Atmospheric Model (HIRAM) simulations (25-km; 1979-2012) and a combination of available atmospheric products from satellite, in-situ and reanalysis data. The observed Hadley Centre Global Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature (HadISST) and the simulated SST from GFDL's global coupled carbon-climate Earth System Models (ESM2M) are employed in HIRAM to investigate the sensitivity of the simulated heavy rainfall and MJO to SST. The future trend of the extreme rainfalls and their links to the MJO response to climate change are examined using HIRAM simulations of 2012-2050 with the RCP4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios to advance the possibility of characterization and forecasting of future extreme rainfall events in the MENA region.

The digital eczema centre utrecht.

PubMed

van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke; van Veelen, Carien; Hover, Maaike; Eland-de Kok, Petra; Bruijnzeel-Koomen, Carla; Sonnevelt, Gert-Jan; Mensing, Geert; Pasmans, Suzanne

2010-01-01

The University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) has developed an eczema portal that combines e-consulting, monitoring and self-management training by a dermatology nurse online for patients and parents of young children with atopic dermatitis (AD). Patient satisfaction with the portal was high. It could be extended to become a Digital Eczema Centre for multidisciplinary collaboration between health-care providers from different locations and the patient. Before starting the construction of the Digital Eczema Centre, the feasibility was examined by carrying out a business case analysis. The purposes, strength and weaknesses showed that the Digital Eczema Centre offered opportunities to improve care for patients with AD. The financial analysis resulted in a medium/best case scenario with a positive result of euro50-240,000 over a period of five years. We expect that the Digital Eczema Centre will increase the accessibility and quality of care. The web-based patient record and the digital chain-of-care promote the involvement of patients, parents and multidisciplinary teams as well as the continuity and coordination of care.

Teaching and Learning Centres: Towards Maturation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Challis, Di; Holt, Dale; Palmer, Stuart

2009-01-01

Approximately 70% of Australian Teaching and Learning Centres have been restructured and/or have undergone leadership changes in the last three years. The volatility of this environment reflects the number of significant challenges faced by Teaching and Learning Centres. In determining what makes Centres successful, the issues that are likely to…

Small Steps towards Student-Centred Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, George M.; Toh-Heng, Hwee Leng

2013-01-01

Student centred learning classroom practices are contrasted with those in teacher centred learning classrooms. The discussion focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of the former, and provides nine steps and tips on how to implement student centred learning strategies, with the aim of developing the 21st century skills of self-directed and…

Can Chemistry Teachers' Centres Survive?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garforth, F. M.

1972-01-01

The difficulties faced by the Hull Chemistry Teachers' Centre in England are discussed. The lack of finances and time, as well as organizational difficulties in relationship with Science Centres and universities are among the problems. (TS)

The Impact of Radiation Changes on the Terrestrial Carbon Sink over the Post Pinatubo Period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitch, S.; Mercado, L. M.; Bellouin, N.; Boucher, O.; Huntingford, C.; Cox, P. M.

2008-12-01

The amount of solar radiation reaching the earth surface is one of the major drivers of plant photosynthesis and therefore changes in radiation are likely to indirectly have an effect on the terrestrial carbon cycle. For example, changes in surface radiation that lead to increasing diffuse surface irradiance are reported to enhance plant photosynthesis (Gu et al., 2003, Niyogi et al., 2004, Oliveira et al., 2007, Roderick et al., 2001). Solar radiation reaching the land surface has changed over the industrial era due to aerosols emitted from volcanoes and various anthropogenic sources (Kvalevag and Myhre, 2007). Such changes in total surface radiation are accompanied by changes in direct and diffuse surface solar radiation. Recent major volcanic events include the eruptions of el Chichón in 1986 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991. In this study we estimate the impact of changes in surface radiation on photosynthetic carbon uptake during the Post Pinatubo period. We use an offline version of the Hadley Centre land surface scheme (Mercado et al., 2007) modified to account for variations in direct and diffuse radiation on sunlit and shaded canopy photosynthesis. We use meteorological forcing from the Climate Research Unit Data set. Additionally short wave and photosynthetic active radiation are reconstructed from the Hadley centre climate model, which accounts for the scattering and absorption of light by tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols. We describe the development of the land carbon cycle through the Pinatubo event and diagnose the impact of changes in diffuse radiation on the atmospheric [CO2] growth-rate

Diastereoselective sp2-sp3 coupling of sugar enol ethers with unactivated cycloalkenes: new entries to C-branched sugars.

PubMed

Hussain, Nazar; Tatina, Madhu Babu; Rasool, Faheem; Mukherjee, Debaraj

2016-10-25

Sugar enol ethers undergo efficient coupling at C-2 with unactivated cycloalkenes under a low Pd loading affording allylic substitution products. High diastereoselectivity was observed at the allylic centre with sterically hindered substrates. Generation of a π-allyl complex by the Pd(ii) catalyst via cleavage of the allylic C-H bond of the cycloalkene may be responsible for the formation of sp 2 -sp 3 coupling products.

Non-commercial surrogacy: an account of patient management in the first Dutch Centre for IVF Surrogacy, from 1997 to 2004

PubMed Central

Dermout, Sylvia; van de Wiel, Harry; Heintz, Peter; Jansen, Kees; Ankum, Willem

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND Surrogacy was prohibited in the Netherlands until 1994, at which time the Dutch law was changed from the general prohibition of surrogacy to the prohibition of commercial surrogacy. This paper describes the results from the first and only Dutch Centre for Non-commercial IVF Surrogacy between 1997 and 2004. METHODS A prospective study was conducted of all intended parents, and surrogate mothers and their partners (if present), in which medical, psychological and legal aspects of patient selection were assessed by questionnaires and interviews developed for this study. RESULTS More than 500 couples enquired about surrogacy by telephone or e-mail. More than 200 couples applied for surrogacy in the Centre, of which, after extensive screening, 35 couples actually entered the IVF programme and 24 completed the treatment, resulting in 16 children being born to 13 women. Recommendations for non-commercial surrogacy are given, including abandoning the 1-year waiting period before adoption, currently dictated by law, avoiding a period of unnecessary psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS Our study has shown that non-commercial IVF surrogacy is feasible, with good results in terms of pregnancy outcome and psychological outcome for all parents, and with no legal problems relating to the adoption procedures arising. The extensive screening of medical, psychological and legal aspects was a key element in helping to ensure the safety and success of the procedure. PMID:19945960

Non-commercial surrogacy: an account of patient management in the first Dutch Centre for IVF Surrogacy, from 1997 to 2004.

PubMed

Dermout, Sylvia; van de Wiel, Harry; Heintz, Peter; Jansen, Kees; Ankum, Willem

2010-02-01

Surrogacy was prohibited in the Netherlands until 1994, at which time the Dutch law was changed from the general prohibition of surrogacy to the prohibition of commercial surrogacy. This paper describes the results from the first and only Dutch Centre for Non-commercial IVF Surrogacy between 1997 and 2004. A prospective study was conducted of all intended parents, and surrogate mothers and their partners (if present), in which medical, psychological and legal aspects of patient selection were assessed by questionnaires and interviews developed for this study. More than 500 couples enquired about surrogacy by telephone or e-mail. More than 200 couples applied for surrogacy in the Centre, of which, after extensive screening, 35 couples actually entered the IVF programme and 24 completed the treatment, resulting in 16 children being born to 13 women. Recommendations for non-commercial surrogacy are given, including abandoning the 1-year waiting period before adoption, currently dictated by law, avoiding a period of unnecessary psychological distress. Our study has shown that non-commercial IVF surrogacy is feasible, with good results in terms of pregnancy outcome and psychological outcome for all parents, and with no legal problems relating to the adoption procedures arising. The extensive screening of medical, psychological and legal aspects was a key element in helping to ensure the safety and success of the procedure.

Tunable cavity coupling of the zero phonon line of a nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, S.; Dolan, P. R.; Grange, T.; Trichet, A. A. P.; Hornecker, G.; Chen, Y. C.; Weng, L.; Hughes, G. M.; Watt, A. A. R.; Auffèves, A.; Smith, J. M.

2015-12-01

We demonstrate the tunable enhancement of the zero phonon line of a single nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamond at cryogenic temperature. An open cavity fabricated using focused ion beam milling provides mode volumes as small as 1.24 μm3 (4.7 {λ }3) and quality factor Q≃ 3000. In situ tuning of the cavity resonance is achieved with piezoelectric actuators. At optimal coupling to a TEM00 cavity mode, the signal from individual zero phonon line transitions is enhanced by a factor of 6.25 and the overall emission rate of the NV- centre is increased by 40% compared with that measured from the same centre in the absence of cavity field confinement. This result represents a step forward in the realisation of efficient spin-photon interfaces and scalable quantum computing using optically addressable solid state spin qubits.

Sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Pliocene sea surface temperatures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, Daniel J.; Dolan, Aisling M.; Haywood, Alan M.; Hunter, Stephen J.; Stoll, Danielle K.

2010-01-01

PRISM3).Use of these different SSTswithin theHadley CentreGCM(GeneralCirculationModel) and BASISM (BritishAntarctic Survey Ice Sheet Model), consistently show large reductions of Pliocene Greenland ice volumes compared to modern. The changes in climate introduced by the use of different SST reconstructions do change the predicted ice volumes, mainly through precipitation feedbacks. However, the models show a relatively low sensitivity of modelled Greenland ice volumes to different mid-Piacenzian SST reconstructions, with the largest SST induced changes being 20% of Pliocene ice volume or less than a metre of sea-level rise.

Qualitative research on infertile Chinese couples' understanding of sexuality.

PubMed

Zhuoran, Wang; Wanpeng, Liu; Tao, Peng; Coates, Rosemary

2018-01-16

Family physicians play an important role in the initial counselling and evaluation of infertility. Despite infertility regarded as a stressor and a life crisis for individuals or couples, little is known about the psychosexual aspects of infertility. On the basis that sexuality is a crucial part of quality of life, it is worthwhile to give more attention to sexuality of infertile couples during their time of experiencing infertility. This study aimed to gain insight into the dynamic features of the sexuality of infertile couples and to provide meaningful evidence for improving their quality of life. We employed a qualitative approach to conduct this study. Utilizing purposive sampling method, 56 participants (28 infertile Chinese couples) were recruited from the reproductive medicine centre of a general hospital, and in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the transcripts. Four themes emerged from the respondents' narratives; these themes relate to the infertile couples' understanding of sexuality: (i) gender identity, (ii) communication about sex, (iii) sexual life and (iv) sexual satisfaction. It was further found that Chinese culture's values of fertility, perceptions about sexuality and sex, social norms regarding gender, and expectations about marital sexual life can have significant effects on infertile Chinese couples' sexuality. These findings should be highly considered by family physicians in their practice to provide infertile couples with information related to sexual well-being, coping styles, relationship, etc. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Minister unveils new nanotech centres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumé, Belle

2009-06-01

Three new nanotechnology research centres are to be set up in France as part of a €70m government plan to help French companies in the sector. Researchers at the new centres, which will be located in Grenoble, Saclay (near Paris) and Toulouse, will be encouraged to collaborate with industry to develop new nanotech-based products. Dubbed NANO-INNOV, the new plan includes €46m for two new buildings at Saclay, with the rest being used to buy new equipment at the three centres and to fund grant proposals from staff to the French National Research Agency (ANR).

Typology of birth centres in the Netherlands using the Rainbow model of integrated care: results of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

PubMed

Boesveld, Inge C; Bruijnzeels, Marc A; Hitzert, Marit; Hermus, Marieke A A; van der Pal-de Bruin, Karin M; van den Akker-van Marle, M E; Steegers, Eric A P; Franx, Arie; de Vries, Raymond G; Wiegers, Therese A

2017-06-21

The goal of integrated care is to offer a continuum of care that crosses the boundaries of public health, primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Integrated care is increasingly promoted for people with complex needs and has also recently been promoted in maternity care systems to improve the quality of care. Especially when located near an obstetric unit, birth centres are considered to be ideal settings for the realization of integrated care. At present, however, we know very little about the degree of integration in these centres and we do not know if increased levels of integration improve the quality of the care delivered. The Dutch Birth Centre Study is designed to evaluate birth centres and their contribution to the Dutch maternity care system. The aim of this particular sub-study is to classify birth centres in clusters with similar characteristics based on integration profiles, to support the evaluation of birth centre care. This study is based on the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care. We used a survey followed by qualitative interviews in 23 birth centres in the Netherlands to determine which integration profiles can be distinguished and to describe their discriminating characteristics. Cluster analysis was used to classify the birth centres. Birth centres were classified into three clusters: 1)"Mono-disciplinary-oriented birth centres" (n = 10): which are mainly owned by primary care organizations and established as physical facilities to provide an alternative birthplace for low risk births; 2) "Multi-disciplinary-oriented birth centres" (n = 6): which are mainly multi-disciplinary oriented and can be regarded as facilities to give birth, with a focus on integrated birth care; 3) "Mixed Cluster of birth centres" (n = 7): which have a range of organizational forms that differentiate them from centres in the other clusters. We identified a recognizable classification, with similar characteristics between birth centres in the clusters. The results of

Analysis of friction and instability by the centre manifold theory for a non-linear sprag-slip model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinou, J.-J.; Thouverez, F.; Jezequel, L.

2003-08-01

This paper presents the research devoted to the study of instability phenomena in non-linear model with a constant brake friction coefficient. Indeed, the impact of unstable oscillations can be catastrophic. It can cause vehicle control problems and component degradation. Accordingly, complex stability analysis is required. This paper outlines stability analysis and centre manifold approach for studying instability problems. To put it more precisely, one considers brake vibrations and more specifically heavy trucks judder where the dynamic characteristics of the whole front axle assembly is concerned, even if the source of judder is located in the brake system. The modelling introduces the sprag-slip mechanism based on dynamic coupling due to buttressing. The non-linearity is expressed as a polynomial with quadratic and cubic terms. This model does not require the use of brake negative coefficient, in order to predict the instability phenomena. Finally, the centre manifold approach is used to obtain equations for the limit cycle amplitudes. The centre manifold theory allows the reduction of the number of equations of the original system in order to obtain a simplified system, without loosing the dynamics of the original system as well as the contributions of non-linear terms. The goal is the study of the stability analysis and the validation of the centre manifold approach for a complex non-linear model by comparing results obtained by solving the full system and by using the centre manifold approach. The brake friction coefficient is used as an unfolding parameter of the fundamental Hopf bifurcation point.

Patient-centred outcomes research: perspectives of patient stakeholders.

PubMed

Chhatre, Sumedha; Gallo, Joseph J; Wittink, Marsha; Schwartz, J Sanford; Jayadevappa, Ravishankar

2017-11-01

To elicit patient stakeholders' experience and perspectives about patient-centred care. Qualitative. A large urban healthcare system. Four patient stakeholders who are prostate cancer survivors. Experience and perspectives of patient stakeholders regarding patient-centred care and treatment decisions. Our patient stakeholders represented a diverse socio-demographic group. The patient stakeholders identified engagement and dialogue with physicians as crucial elements of patient-centred care model. The degree of patient-centred care was observed to be dependent on the situations. High severity conditions warranted a higher level of patient involvement, compared to mild conditions. They agreed that patient-centred care should not mean that patients can demand inappropriate treatments. An important attribute of patient-centred outcomes research model is the involvement of stakeholders. However, we have limited knowledge about the experience of patient stakeholders in patient-centred outcomes research. Our study indicates that patient stakeholders offer a unique perspective as researchers and policy-makers aim to precisely define patient-centred research and care.

Poor Infant Feeding Practices and High Prevalence of Malnutrition in Urban Slum Child Care Centres in Nairobi: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Mutoro, Antonina; Owino, Victor; Garcia, Ada L.; Wright, Charlotte M.

2016-01-01

Little is known about the style and quality of feeding and care provided in child day-care centres in slum areas. This study purposively sampled five day-care centres in Nairobi, Kenya, where anthropometric measurements were collected among 33 children aged 6–24 months. Mealtime interactions were further observed in 11 children from four centres, using a standardized data collection sheet. We recorded the child actions, such as mood, interest in food, distraction level, as well as caregiver actions, such as encouragement to eat, level of distraction and presence of neutral actions. Of the 33 children assessed, with a mean age of 15.9 ± 4.9 months, 14 (42%) were female. Undernutrition was found in 13 (39%) children with at least one Z score <−2 or oedema (2): height for age <−2 (11), weight for age <−2 (11), body mass index for age <−2 (4). Rates of undernutrition were highest (9 of 13; 69%) in children aged 18–24 months. Hand-washing before the meal was lacking in all centres. Caregivers were often distracted and rarely encouraged children to feed, with most children eating less than half of their served meal. Poor hygiene coupled with non-responsive care practices observed in the centres is a threat to child health, growth and development. PMID:26507408

Communicating astronomy by the Unizul Science Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beesham, A.; Beesham, N.

2015-03-01

The University of Zululand, situated along the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, has a thriving Science Centre (USC) situated in the developing port city of Richards Bay. Over 30 000 learners visit the centre annually, and it consists of an exhibition area, an auditorium, lecture areas and offices. The shows consist of interactive games, science shows, competitions, quizzes and matriculation workshops. Outreach activities take place through a mobile science centre for schools and communities that cannot visit the centre.

The "magic" of tutorial centres in Hong Kong: An analysis of media marketing and pedagogy in a tutorial centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koh, Aaron

2014-12-01

Why do more than three-quarters of Hong Kong's senior secondary students flock to tutorial centres like moths to light? What is the "magic" that is driving the popularity of the tutorial centre enterprise? Indeed, looking at the ongoing boom of tutorial centres in Hong Kong (there are almost 1,000 of them), it is difficult not to ask these questions. This paper examines the phenomenon of tutorial centres in Hong Kong and seeks to understand what draws students to these centres. Combining theories of marketing semiotics and emotion studies, the author investigates the pivotal role of media marketing in generating the "magic" of tutorial centres, whose advertising strategy includes, for example, a display of billboard posters featuring stylishly-dressed "celebrity teachers". The author reviews some of the literature available on the subject of tutorial centres. In a case study approach, he then maps out the pedagogy he observed in an English tutorial class, seeking heuristic insights into the kind of teaching students in the study were looking for. He argues that part of the "magical" attraction of what are essentially "cram schools" is their formulaic pedagogy of teaching and reinforcing exam skills. Finally, the paper considers the social implications of the tutorial centre industry in terms of media marketing of education and unequal access to tutorial services.

Acceptability of HIV/AIDS testing among pre-marital couples in Iran (2012)

PubMed Central

Ayatollahi, Jamshid; Nasab Sarab, Mohammad Ali Bagheri; Sharifi, Mohammad Reza; Shahcheraghi, Seyed Hossein

2014-01-01

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a lifestyle-related disease. This disease is transmitted through unprotected sex, contaminated needles, infected blood transfusion and from mother to child during pregnancy and delivery. Prevention of infection with HIV, mainly through safe sex and needle exchange programmes is a solution to prevent the spread of the disease. Knowledge about HIV state helps to prevent and subsequently reduce the harm to the later generation. The purpose of this study was to assess the willingness rate of couples referred to the family regulation pre-marital counselling centre for performing HIV test before marriage in Yazd. Patients and Methods: In this descriptive study, a simple random sampling was done among people referred to Akbari clinic. The couples were 1000 men and 1000 women referred to the premarital counselling centre for pre-marital HIV testing in Yazd in the year 2012. They were in situations of pregnancy, delivery or nursing and milking. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and chi-square statistical test. Results: There was a significant statistical difference between the age groups about willingness for HIV testing before marriage (P < 0.001) and also positive comments about HIV testing in asymptomatic individuals (P < 0.001). This study also proved a significant statistical difference between the two gender groups about willingness to marry after HIV positive test of their wives. Conclusion: The willingness rate of couples to undergo HIV testing before marriage was significant. Therefore, HIV testing before marriage as a routine test was suggested. PMID:25114363

Acceptability of HIV/AIDS testing among pre-marital couples in Iran (2012).

PubMed

Ayatollahi, Jamshid; Nasab Sarab, Mohammad Ali Bagheri; Sharifi, Mohammad Reza; Shahcheraghi, Seyed Hossein

2014-07-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a lifestyle-related disease. This disease is transmitted through unprotected sex, contaminated needles, infected blood transfusion and from mother to child during pregnancy and delivery. Prevention of infection with HIV, mainly through safe sex and needle exchange programmes is a solution to prevent the spread of the disease. Knowledge about HIV state helps to prevent and subsequently reduce the harm to the later generation. The purpose of this study was to assess the willingness rate of couples referred to the family regulation pre-marital counselling centre for performing HIV test before marriage in Yazd. In this descriptive study, a simple random sampling was done among people referred to Akbari clinic. The couples were 1000 men and 1000 women referred to the premarital counselling centre for pre-marital HIV testing in Yazd in the year 2012. They were in situations of pregnancy, delivery or nursing and milking. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and chi-square statistical test. There was a significant statistical difference between the age groups about willingness for HIV testing before marriage (P < 0.001) and also positive comments about HIV testing in asymptomatic individuals (P < 0.001). This study also proved a significant statistical difference between the two gender groups about willingness to marry after HIV positive test of their wives. The willingness rate of couples to undergo HIV testing before marriage was significant. Therefore, HIV testing before marriage as a routine test was suggested.

Enhancing person-centred communication in NICU: a comparative thematic analysis.

PubMed

Weis, Janne; Zoffmann, Vibeke; Egerod, Ingrid

2015-11-01

Aims of this article were (a) to explore how parents of premature infants experience guided family-centred care (GFCC), and (b) to compare how parents receiving GFCC versus standard care (SC) describe nurse-parent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit. Family-centred care (FCC) is acknowledged as fundamental to supporting parents of premature infants, and communication is central to this practice. Accordingly, nurses need good communication skills. GFCC is an intervention developed to improve nurse-parent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit. This intervention helps nurses to realize person-centred communication as an approach to optimize contemporary practice. Our qualitative study had a descriptive and comparative design using semi-structured interviews to explore the parent's experience of GFCC. We conducted 10 dyad interviews with parents (n = 20) and two individual interviews with mothers of premature infants (n = 2). Parents in the intervention group versus SC group were 13 versus 9. Thematic analysis was applied. GFCC was generally experienced as supportive. Three interrelated themes were identified that illustrated how the intervention helped parents cope as persons, parents and couples: (a) discovering and expressing emotions, (b) reaching a deeper level of communication, and (c) obtaining mutual understanding. In contrast, SC communication was more superficial and less structured. Factors such as inaccessibility of nurses, inability to ask for assistance and parent popularity impaired successful communication. Our study suggested that compared to SC, GFCC provided structured delivery of supportive communication between nurses and parents of premature infants. The intervention promoted the discovery of the parents' individual preferences and concerns, which enabled more focused communication, and set the stage for better nurse-parent and parent-parent understanding. We recommend GFCC as a method to improve communication in the

Perspectives on recycling centres and future developments.

PubMed

Engkvist, I-L; Eklund, J; Krook, J; Björkman, M; Sundin, E

2016-11-01

The overall aim of this paper is to draw combined, all-embracing conclusions based on a long-term multidisciplinary research programme on recycling centres in Sweden, focussing on working conditions, environment and system performance. A second aim is to give recommendations for their development of new and existing recycling centres and to discuss implications for the future design and organisation. Several opportunities for improvement of recycling centres were identified, such as design, layout, ease with which users could sort their waste, the work environment, conflicting needs and goals within the industry, and industrialisation. Combining all results from the research, which consisted of different disciplinary aspects, made it possible to analyse and elucidate their interrelations. Waste sorting quality was recognized as the most prominent improvement field in the recycling centre system. The research identified the importance of involving stakeholders with different perspectives when planning a recycling centre in order to get functionality and high performance. Practical proposals of how to plan and build recycling centres are given in a detailed checklist. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic strain-mediated coupling of a single diamond spin to a mechanical resonator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ovartchaiyapong, Preeti; Lee, Kenneth W.; Myers, Bryan A.; Jayich, Ania C. Bleszynski

2014-07-01

The development of hybrid quantum systems is central to the advancement of emerging quantum technologies, including quantum information science and quantum-assisted sensing. The recent demonstration of high-quality single-crystal diamond resonators has led to significant interest in a hybrid system consisting of nitrogen-vacancy centre spins that interact with the resonant phonon modes of a macroscopic mechanical resonator through crystal strain. However, the nitrogen-vacancy spin-strain interaction has not been well characterized. Here, we demonstrate dynamic, strain-mediated coupling of the mechanical motion of a diamond cantilever to the spin of an embedded nitrogen-vacancy centre. Via quantum control of the spin, we quantitatively characterize the axial and transverse strain sensitivities of the nitrogen-vacancy ground-state spin. The nitrogen-vacancy centre is an atomic scale sensor and we demonstrate spin-based strain imaging with a strain sensitivity of 3 × 10-6 strain Hz-1/2. Finally, we show how this spin-resonator system could enable coherent spin-phonon interactions in the quantum regime.

Operational flood forecasting system of Umbria Region "Functional Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berni, N.; Pandolfo, C.; Stelluti, M.; Ponziani, F.; Viterbo, A.

2009-04-01

to the expected ground effects: ordinary, moderate and high. Particularly, hydrometric and rainfall thresholds for both floods and landslides alarms were assessed. Based on these thresholds, at the Umbria Region Functional Centre an automatic phone-call and SMS alert system is operating. For a real time flood forecasting system, at the CFD several hydrological and hydraulic models were developed. Three rainfall-runoff hydrological models, using different quantitative meteorological forecasts, are available: the event based models X-Nash (based on the Nash theory) and Mike-Drift coupled with the hydraulic model Mike-11 (developed by the Danish Hydraulic Institute - DHI); and the physically-based continuous model Mobidic (MOdello di Bilancio Idrologico DIstribuito e Continuo - Distributed and Continuous Model for the Hydrological Balance, developed by the University of Florence in cooperation with the Functional Centre of Tuscany Region). Other two hydrological models, using observed data of the real time hydrometeorological network, were implemented: the first one is the rainfall-runoff hydrological model Hec-Hms coupled with the hydraulic model Hec-Ras (United States Army Corps of Engineers - USACE). Moreover, Hec-Hms, is coupled also with a continuous soil moisture model for a more precise evaluation of the antecedent moisture condition of the basin, which is a key factor for a correct runoff volume evaluation. The second one is the routing hydrological model Stafom (STage FOrecasting Model, developed by the Italian Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the National Research Council - IRPI-CNR). This model is an adaptive model for on-line stage forecasting for river branches where significant lateral inflow contributions occur and, up to now, it is implemented for the main Tiber River branch and it allows a forecasting lead time up to 10 hours for the downstream river section. Recently, during the period between December the 4th and the 16th 2008

Patient-centred care: a review for rehabilitative audiologists.

PubMed

Grenness, Caitlin; Hickson, Louise; Laplante-Lévesque, Ariane; Davidson, Bronwyn

2014-02-01

This discussion paper aims to synthesise the literature on patient-centred care from a range of health professions and to relate this to the field of rehabilitative audiology. Through review of the literature, this paper addresses five questions: What is patient-centred care? How is patient-centred care measured? What are the outcomes of patient-centred care? What are the factors contributing to patient-centred care? What are the implications for audiological rehabilitation? Literature review and synthesis. Publications were identified by structured searches in PubMed, Cinahl, Web of Knowledge, and PsychInfo, and by inspecting the reference lists of relevant articles. Few publications from within the audiology profession address this topic and consequently a review and synthesis of literature from other areas of health were used to answer the proposed questions. This paper concludes that patient-centred care is in line with the aims and scope of practice for audiological rehabilitation. However, there is emerging evidence that we still need to inform the conceptualisation of patient-centred audiological rehabilitation. A definition of patient-centred audiological rehabilitation is needed to facilitate studies into the nature and outcomes of it in audiological rehabilitation practice.

Air-coupled piezoelectric transducers with active polypropylene foam matching layers.

PubMed

Gómez Alvarez-Arenas, Tomás E

2013-05-10

This work presents the design, construction and characterization of air-coupled piezoelectric transducers using 1-3 connectivity piezocomposite disks with a stack of matching layers being the outer one an active quarter wavelength layer made of polypropylene foam ferroelectret film. This kind of material has shown a stable piezoelectric response together with a very low acoustic impedance (<0.1 MRayl). These features make them a suitable candidate for the dual use or function proposed here: impedance matching layer and active material for air-coupled transduction. The transducer centre frequency is determined by the l/4 resonance of the polypropylene foam ferroelectret film (0.35 MHz), then, the rest of the transducer components (piezocomposite disk and passive intermediate matching layers) are all tuned to this frequency. The transducer has been tested in several working modes including pulse-echo and pitch-catch as well as wide and narrow band excitation. The performance of the proposed novel transducer is compared with that of a conventional air-coupled transducers operating in a similar frequency range.

Review of CERN Data Centre Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, P.; Bell, T.; van Eldik, J.; McCance, G.; Panzer-Steindel, B.; Coelho dos Santos, M.; Traylen and, S.; Schwickerath, U.

2012-12-01

The CERN Data Centre is reviewing strategies for optimizing the use of the existing infrastructure and expanding to a new data centre by studying how other large sites are being operated. Over the past six months, CERN has been investigating modern and widely-used tools and procedures used for virtualisation, clouds and fabric management in order to reduce operational effort, increase agility and support unattended remote data centres. This paper gives the details on the project's motivations, current status and areas for future investigation.

The "Magic" of Tutorial Centres in Hong Kong: An Analysis of Media Marketing and Pedagogy in a Tutorial Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koh, Aaron

2014-01-01

Why do more than three-quarters of Hong Kong's senior secondary students flock to tutorial centres like moths to light? What is the "magic" that is driving the popularity of the tutorial centre enterprise? Indeed, looking at the ongoing boom of tutorial centres in Hong Kong (there are almost 1,000 of them), it is difficult not to ask…

Comparison of planned menus and centre characteristics with foods and beverages served in New York City child-care centres.

PubMed

Breck, Andrew; Dixon, L Beth; Kettel Khan, Laura

2016-10-01

The present study evaluated the extent to which child-care centre menus prepared in advance correspond with food and beverage items served to children. The authors identified centre and staff characteristics that were associated with matches between menus and what was served. Menus were collected from ninety-five centres in New York City (NYC). Direct observation of foods and beverages served to children were conducted during 524 meal and snack times at these centres between April and June 2010, as part of a larger study designed to determine compliance of child-care centres with city health department regulations for nutrition. Child-care centres were located in low-income neighbourhoods in NYC. Overall, 87 % of the foods and beverages listed on the menus or allowed as substitutions were served. Menu items matched with foods and beverages served for all major food groups by >60 %. Sweets and water had lower match percentages (40 and 32 %, respectively), but water was served 68 % of the time when it was not listed on the menu. The staff person making the food and purchasing decisions predicted the match between the planned or substituted items on the menus and the foods and beverages served. In the present study, child-care centre menus included most foods and beverages served to children. Menus planned in advance have potential to be used to inform parents about which child-care centre to send their child or what foods and beverages their enrolled children will be offered throughout the day.

Comparison of planned menus and centre characteristics with foods and beverages served in New York City child-care centres

PubMed Central

Breck, Andrew; Dixon, L Beth; Khan, Laura Kettel

2016-01-01

Objective The present study evaluated the extent to which child-care centre menus prepared in advance correspond with food and beverage items served to children. The authors identified centre and staff characteristics that were associated with matches between menus and what was served. Design Menus were collected from ninety-five centres in New York City (NYC). Direct observation of foods and beverages served to children were conducted during 524 meal and snack times at these centres between April and June 2010, as part of a larger study designed to determine compliance of child-care centres with city health department regulations for nutrition. Setting Child-care centres were located in low-income neighbourhoods in NYC. Results Overall, 87% of the foods and beverages listed on the menus or allowed as substitutions were served. Menu items matched with foods and beverages served for all major food groups by > 60%. Sweets and water had lower match percentages (40 and 32%, respectively), but water was served 68% of the time when it was not listed on the menu. The staff person making the food and purchasing decisions predicted the match between the planned or substituted items on the menus and the foods and beverages served. Conclusions In the present study, child-care centre menus included most foods and beverages served to children. Menus planned in advance have potential to be used to inform parents about which child-care centre to send their child or what foods and beverages their enrolled children will be offered throughout the day. PMID:27280341

The illusion of client-centred practice.

PubMed

Gupta, Jyothi; Taff, Steven D

2015-07-01

A critical analysis of occupational therapy practice in the corporate health care culture in a free market economy was undertaken to demonstrate incongruence with the profession's philosophical basis and espoused commitment to client-centred practice. The current practice of occupational therapy in the reimbursement-driven practice arena in the United States is incongruent with the profession's espoused philosophy and values of client-centred practice. Occupational therapy differentiates itself from medicine's expert model aimed at curing disease and remediating impairment, by its claim to client-centred practice focused on restoring health through occupational enablement. Practice focused on impairment and function is at odds with the profession's core tenet, occupation, and minimizes the lasting impact of interventions on health and well-being. The profession cannot unleash the therapeutic power of human occupation in settings where body systems and body functions are not occupation-ready at the requisite levels for occupational participation. Client-centred practice is best embodied by occupation-focused interventions in the natural environment of everyday living. Providing services that are impairment-focused in unfamiliar settings is not a good fit for client-centred practice, which is the unique, authentic, and sustainable orientation for the profession.

The obtaining relative position of lunar centre masses and centre of the figure in selenocentric catalogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nefedjev, Yu. A.; Valeev, S. G.; Rizvanov, N. G.; Mikeev, R. R.; Varaksina, N. Yu.

2010-05-01

The relative position of lunar center masses relative to center of the figure in Kazan and Kiev selenocentric catalogues was customized. The expansions by spherical harmonics N=5 degree and order of the lunar function h(λ, β) with using the package ASNI USTU were executed. Module of the expansion of the local area to surfaces to full sphere was used. The parameters of cosmic missions are given for comparison (SAI; Bills, Ferrari). The normalized coefficients from expansions for eight sources hypsometric information are obtained: - Clementine (N=40), - Kazan (N=5), - Kiev (N=5), - SAI (N=10; Chuikova (1975)), - Bills, Ferrari, - Каguуа (Selena, Japan mission), - ULCN (The Uuified Lunaz Control Network 2005). The displacements of the lunar centre figure relative to lunar centre of the masses were defined from equations (Chuikova (1975)). The results of the obtaining relative position of the lunar centre masses and centre of the figure in Kazan selenocentric catalogue give good agreement with modern cosmic mission data.

Attribution of the 1995 and 2006 storm surge events in the southern Baltic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klehmet, K.; Rockel, B.; von Storch, H.

2016-12-01

In November 1995 and 2006, the German Baltic Sea coast experienced severe storm surge conditions. Exceptional water level heights of about 1.8m above mean sea level were measured at German tide gauges. Extreme event attribution poses unique challenges trying to distinguish the role of anthropogenic influence, as e.g. greenhouse gas emissions or land-use changes, from natural variability. This study, which is part of the EUCLEIA project (EUropean CLimate and weather Events: Interpretation and Attribution, www. eucleia.eu), aims to estimate how the contribution of anthropogenic drivers has altered the probability of single extreme events such as the 1995 and 2006 storm surge events. We explore these aspects using two 7-member ensembles of Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 3-A (HadGEM3-A), the atmosphere only component of the HadGEM3, provided by the Met Office Hadley Centre. The ensemble of HadGEM3-A consists of two multi-decadal experiments from 1960-2013 - one with anthropogenic forcing factors and natural forcings representing the actual climate. The second experiment represents the natural climate including only natural forcing factors. These two 7-member ensembles of about 60km spatial resolution are used as atmospheric forcing data to drive the regional ocean model TRIM-NP in order to calculate water level in the Baltic Sea in 12.8km spatial resolution. Findings indicate some limitations of the regional model ensemble to reproduce the magnitude of extreme water levels well. It is tested whether increased spatial resolution of atmospheric forcing fields can improve the representation of Baltic Sea extreme water levels along the coast and thus add value in the attribution analysis.

Poor Infant Feeding Practices and High Prevalence of Malnutrition in Urban Slum Child Care Centres in Nairobi: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Mwase, Ivan; Mutoro, Antonina; Owino, Victor; Garcia, Ada L; Wright, Charlotte M

2016-02-01

Little is known about the style and quality of feeding and care provided in child day-care centres in slum areas. This study purposively sampled five day-care centres in Nairobi, Kenya, where anthropometric measurements were collected among 33 children aged 6-24 months. Mealtime interactions were further observed in 11 children from four centres, using a standardized data collection sheet. We recorded the child actions, such as mood, interest in food, distraction level, as well as caregiver actions, such as encouragement to eat, level of distraction and presence of neutral actions. Of the 33 children assessed, with a mean age of 15.9 ± 4.9 months, 14 (42%) were female. Undernutrition was found in 13 (39%) children with at least one Z score <-2 or oedema (2): height for age <-2 (11), weight for age <-2 (11), body mass index for age <-2 (4). Rates of undernutrition were highest (9 of 13; 69%) in children aged 18-24 months. Hand-washing before the meal was lacking in all centres. Caregivers were often distracted and rarely encouraged children to feed, with most children eating less than half of their served meal. Poor hygiene coupled with non-responsive care practices observed in the centres is a threat to child health, growth and development. © The Author [2015]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Imperial College Thermophysical Properties Data Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angus, S.; Cole, W. A.; Craven, R.; de Reuck, K. M.; Trengove, R. D.; Wakeham, W. A.

1986-07-01

The IUPAC Thermodynamic Tables Project Centre in London has at its disposal considerable expertise on the production and utilization of high-accuracy equations of state which represent the thermodynamic properties of substances. For some years they have been content to propagate this information by the traditional method of book production, but the increasing use of the computer in industry for process design has shown that an additional method was needed. The setting up of the IUPAC Transport Properties Project Centre, also at Imperial College, whose products would also be in demand by industry, afforded the occasion for a new look at the problem. The solution has been to set up the Imperial College Thermophysical Properties Data Centre, which embraces the two IUPAC Project Centres, and for it to establish a link with the existing Physical Properties Data Service of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, thus providing for the dissemination of the available information without involving the Centres in problems such as those of marketing and advertising. This paper outlines the activities of the Centres and discusses the problems in bringing their products to the attention of industry in suitable form.

Uncertainties and coupled error covariances in the CERA-20C, ECMWF's first coupled reanalysis ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Xiangbo; Haines, Keith

2017-04-01

ECMWF has produced its first ensemble ocean-atmosphere coupled reanalysis, the 20th century Coupled ECMWF ReAnalysis (CERA-20C), with 10 ensemble members at 3-hour resolution. Here the analysis uncertainties (ensemble spread) of lower atmospheric variables and sea surface temperature (SST), and their correlations, are quantified on diurnal, seasonal and longer timescales. The 2-m air temperature (T2m) spread is always larger than the SST spread at high-frequencies, but smaller on monthly timescales, except in deep convection areas, indicating increasing SST control at longer timescales. Spatially the T2m-SST ensemble correlations are the strongest where ocean mixed layers are shallow and can respond to atmospheric variability. Where atmospheric convection is strong with a deep precipitating boundary layer, T2m-SST correlations are greatly reduced. As the 20th-century progresses more observations become available, and ensemble spreads decline at all variability timescales. The T2m-SST correlations increase through the 20th-century, except in the tropics. As winds become better constrained over the oceans with less spread, T2m-SST become more correlated. In the tropics, strong ENSO-related inter-annual variability is found in the correlations, as atmospheric convection centres move. These ensemble spreads have been used to provide background errors for the assimilation throughout the reanalysis, have implications for the weights given to observations, and are a general measure of the uncertainties in the analysed product. Although cross boundary covariances are not currently used, they offer considerable potential for strengthening the ocean-atmosphere coupling in future reanalyses.

Angle-dependent quantum Otto heat engine based on coherent dipole-dipole coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Shan-He; Luo, Xiao-Qing; Chen, Jin-Can; Sun, Chang-Pu

2016-08-01

Electromagnetic interactions between molecules or within a molecule have been widely observed in biological systems and exhibit broad application for molecular structural studies. Quantum delocalization of molecular dipole moments has inspired researchers to explore new avenues to utilize this physical effect for energy harvesting devices. Herein, we propose a simple model of the angle-dependent quantum Otto heat engine which seeks to facilitate the conversion of heat to work. Unlike previous studies, the adiabatic processes are accomplished by varying only the directions of the magnetic field. We show that the heat engine continues to generate power when the angle relative to the vector r joining the centres of coupled dipoles departs from the magic angle θm where the static coupling vanishes. A significant improvement in the device performance has to be attributed to the presence of the quantum delocalized levels associated with the coherent dipole-dipole coupling. These results obtained may provide a promising model for the biomimetic design and fabrication of quantum energy generators.

Recent Reanalysis Activities at ECMWF: Results from ERA-20C and Plans for ERA5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dragani, R.; Hersbach, H.; Poli, P.; Pebeuy, C.; Hirahara, S.; Simmons, A.; Dee, D.

2015-12-01

This presentation will provide an overview of the most recent reanalysis activities performed at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). A pilot reanalysis of the 20th-century (ERA-20C) has recently been completed. Funded through the European FP7 collaborative project ERA-CLIM, ERA-20C is part of a suite of experiments that also includes a model-only integration (ERA-20CM) and a land-surface reanalysis (ERA-20CL). Its data assimilation system is constrained by only surface observations obtained from ISPD (3.2.6) and ICOADS (2.5.1). Surface boundary conditions are provided by the Hadley Centre (HadISST2.1.0.0) and radiative forcing follows CMIP5 recommended data sets. First-guess uncertainty estimates are based on a 10-member ensemble of Data Assimilations, ERA-20C ensemble, run prior to ERA-20C using ten SST and sea-ice realizations from the Hadley Centre. In November 2014, the European Commission entrusted ECMWF to run on its behalf the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) aiming at producing quality-assured information about the past, current and future states of the climate at both European and global scales. Reanalysis will be one of the main components of the C3S portfolio and the first one to be produced is a global modern era reanalysis (ERA5) covering the period from 1979 onwards. Based on a recent version of the ECMWF data assimilation system, ERA5 will replace the widely used ERA-Interim dataset. This new production will benefit from a much improved model, and better characterized and exploited observations compared to its predecessor. The first part of the presentation will focus on the ERA-20C production, provide an overview of its main characteristics and discuss some of the key results from its assessment. The second part of the talk will give an overview of ERA5, and briefly discuss some of its challenges.

The Dutch Birth Centre Study: study design of a programmatic evaluation of the effect of birth centre care in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Hermus, Marieke A A; Wiegers, Therese A; Hitzert, Marit F; Boesveld, Inge C; van den Akker-van Marle, M Elske; Akkermans, Henk A; Bruijnzeels, Marc A; Franx, Arie; de Graaf, Johanna P; Rijnders, Marlies E B; Steegers, Eric A P; van der Pal-de Bruin, Karin M

2015-07-16

Birth centres are regarded as settings where women with uncomplicated pregnancies can give birth, assisted by a midwife and a maternity care assistant. In case of (threatening) complications referral to a maternity unit of a hospital is necessary. In the last decade up to 20 different birth centres have been instituted in the Netherlands. This increase in birth centres is attributed to various reasons such as a safe and easy accessible place of birth, organizational efficiency in integration of care and direct access to obstetric hospital care if needed, and better use of maternity care assistance. Birth centres are assumed to offer increased integration and quality of care and thus to contribute to better perinatal and maternal outcomes. So far there is no evidence for this assumption as no previous studies of birth centres have been carried out in the Netherlands. The aims are 1) Identification of birth centres and measuring integration of organization and care 2) Measuring the quality of birth centre care 3) Effects of introducing a birth centre on regional quality and provision of care 4) Cost-effectiveness analysis 5) In depth longitudinal analysis of the organization and processes in birth centres. Different qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in the different sub studies. The design is a multi-centre, multi-method study, including surveys, interviews, observations, and analysis of registration data and documents. The results of this study will enable users of maternity care, professionals, policy makers and health care financers to make an informed choice about the kind of birth location that is appropriate for their needs and wishes.

Assisted reproduction in a cohort of same-sex male couples and single men.

PubMed

Grover, Stephanie A; Shmorgun, Ziva; Moskovtsev, Sergey I; Baratz, Ari; Librach, Clifford L

2013-08-01

To date, there is limited published data on same-sex male couples and single men using assisted reproduction treatment to build their families. The objective of this retrospective study was to better understand treatment considerations and outcomes for this population when using assisted reproduction treatment. A total of 37 same-sex male couples and eight single men (seven homosexual and one heterosexual) who attended the CReATe Fertility Centre for assisted reproduction services were studied. There was a 21-fold increase in the number of same-sex male couples and single men undergoing assisted reproduction treatment since 2003. The mean age was 46years (24-58). Twenty-eight couples (76%) chose to use spermatozoa from both partners to fertilize their donated oocytes. Most men (32 same-sex male couples and seven single men; 87%) obtained oocytes from an anonymous donor, whereas five couples and one single man (13%) had a known donor. Anonymous donors who were open to be contacted by the child after the age of 18 were selected by 67% of patients. Of all 25 deliveries, eight (32%) were sets of twins. All of the twins were half genetic siblings. Copyright © 2013 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doherty, Marcus W.; Manson, Neil B.; Delaney, Paul; Jelezko, Fedor; Wrachtrup, Jörg; Hollenberg, Lloyd C. L.

2013-07-01

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centre in diamond is an important physical system for emergent quantum technologies, including quantum metrology, information processing and communications, as well as for various nanotechnologies, such as biological and sub-diffraction limit imaging, and for tests of entanglement in quantum mechanics. Given this array of existing and potential applications and the almost 50 years of NV research, one would expect that the physics of the centre is well understood, however, the study of the NV centre has proved challenging, with many early assertions now believed false and many remaining issues yet to be resolved. This review represents the first time that the key empirical and ab initio results have been extracted from the extensive NV literature and assembled into one consistent picture of the current understanding of the centre. As a result, the key unresolved issues concerning the NV centre are identified and the possible avenues for their resolution are examined.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Jian; Vecchi, Gabriel A.

The Hadley circulation, a prominent circulation feature characterized by rising air near the Equator and sinking air in the subtropics, defines the position of dry subtropical areas and is a fundamental regulator of the earth’s energy and momentum budgets. The character of the Hadley circulation, and its related precipitation regimes, exhibits variation and change in response to both climate variability and radiative forcing changes. The strength and position of the Hadley circulation change from year to year paced by El Niño and La Niña events. Over the last few decades of the twentieth century, the Hadley cell has expanded polewardmore » in both hemispheres, with changes in atmospheric composition (including stratospheric ozone depletion and greenhouse gas increases) thought to have contributed to its expansion. This article introduces the basic phenomenology and driving mechanism of the Hadley circulation and discusses its variations under both natural and anthropogenic climate forcings.« less

Student-Centred and Teacher-Centred Learning Environment in Pre-Vocational Secondary Education: Psychological Needs, and Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smit, Karin; de Brabander, Cornelis J.; Martens, Rob L.

2014-01-01

In this study the perception of psychological needs and motivation in a student-centred and a teacher-centred learning environment are compared, using Self Determination Theory as a framework. The self-report Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was completed by 230 students (mean age 16.1 years) in pre-vocational secondary education. School records on…

Centre-Based Child Care Quality in Urban Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishimine, Karin; Wilson, Rachel

2009-01-01

This study investigates the quality of childcare centres in urban Australian communities designated according to different bands of Centre Location Demographics (CLD). Childcare centres were assessed using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale- Revised Edition (ECERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Extension (ECERS-E).…

Student-Centred Learning (SCL): Roles Changed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onurkan Aliusta, Gülen; Özer, Bekir

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the espoused and enacted practices of high school teachers with regard to student-centred learning (SCL). Explanatory mixed-method design, where quantitative strand is followed by qualitative one, is employed. While the quantitative strand aims to explore teachers' perceptions regarding the extent student-centred teacher and…

Elderly Care Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagiman, Aliani; Haja Bava Mohidin, Hazrina; Ismail, Alice Sabrina

2016-02-01

The demand for elderly centre has increased tremendously abreast with the world demographic change as the number of senior citizens rose in the 21st century. This has become one of the most crucial problems of today's era. As the world progress into modernity, more and more people are occupied with daily work causing the senior citizens to lose the care that they actually need. This paper seeks to elucidate the best possible design of an elderly care centre with new approach in order to provide the best service for them by analysing their needs and suitable activities that could elevate their quality of life. All these findings will then be incorporated into design solutions so as to enhance the living environment for the elderly especially in Malaysian context.

Higgs self-coupling measurements at a 100 TeV hadron collider

DOE PAGES

Barr, Alan J.; Dolan, Matthew J.; Englert, Christoph; ...

2015-02-03

An important physics goal of a possible next-generation high-energy hadron collider will be precision characterisation of the Higgs sector and electroweak symmetry breaking. A crucial part of understanding the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking is measuring the Higgs self-interactions. We study dihiggs production in proton-proton collisions at 100 TeV centre of mass energy in order to estimate the sensitivity such a machine would have to variations in the trilinear Higgs coupling around the Standard Model expectation. We focus on the bb¯γγ final state, including possible enhancements in sensitivity by exploiting dihiggs recoils against a hard jet. In conclusion, we findmore » that it should be possible to measure the trilinear self-coupling with 40% accuracy given 3/ab and 12% with 30/ab of data.« less

The Irish Centre for Talented Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilheany, Sheila

2005-01-01

Conducting potency tests on penicillin, discussing rocket technology with a NASA astronaut, analysing animal bone fragments from medieval times, these are just some of the activities which occupy the time of students at The Irish Centre for Talented Youth. The Centre identifies young students with exceptional academic ability and then provides…

Documentation Centre of the Association of African Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chateh, Peter

This report presents the results of a study of the Documentation Centre of the Association of African Universities (AAU) undertaken to work out proposals for the rational organization of the Centre, and to explore the possibility of computerizing the Centre and linking it with other centers which provide automated documentation services. The…

Studies on the coupling transformer to improve the performance of microwave ion source.

PubMed

Misra, Anuraag; Pandit, V S

2014-06-01

A 2.45 GHz microwave ion source has been developed and installed at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre to produce high intensity proton beam. It is operational and has already produced more than 12 mA of proton beam with just 350 W of microwave power. In order to optimize the coupling of microwave power to the plasma, a maximally flat matching transformer has been used. In this paper, we first describe an analytical method to design the matching transformer and then present the results of rigorous simulation performed using ANSYS HFSS code to understand the effect of different parameters on the transformed impedance and reflection and transmission coefficients. Based on the simulation results, we have chosen two different coupling transformers which are double ridged waveguides with ridge widths of 24 mm and 48 mm. We have fabricated these transformers and performed experiments to study the influence of these transformers on the coupling of microwave to plasma and extracted beam current from the ion source.

Artificial dispersion via high-order homogenization: magnetoelectric coupling and magnetism from dielectric layers

PubMed Central

Liu, Yan; Guenneau, Sébastien; Gralak, Boris

2013-01-01

We investigate a high-order homogenization (HOH) algorithm for periodic multi-layered stacks. The mathematical tool of choice is a transfer matrix method. Expressions for effective permeability, permittivity and magnetoelectric coupling are explored by frequency power expansions. On the physical side, this HOH uncovers a magnetoelectric coupling effect (odd-order approximation) and artificial magnetism (even-order approximation) in moderate contrast photonic crystals. Comparing the effective parameters' expressions of a stack with three layers against that of a stack with two layers, we note that the magnetoelectric coupling effect vanishes while the artificial magnetism can still be achieved in a centre-symmetric periodic structure. Furthermore, we numerically check the effective parameters through the dispersion law and transmission property of a stack with two dielectric layers against that of an effective bianisotropic medium: they are in good agreement throughout the low-frequency (acoustic) band until the first stop band, where the analyticity of the logarithm function of the transfer matrix () breaks down. PMID:24101891

[The Adamant, an unusual care centre].

PubMed

Khidichian, Frédéric

2011-01-01

The day care centre of the central Paris area has established itself in an unusual location--a 650 m2 floating building moored on the right bank of the Seine. Patients and caregivers were involved in the design of this original and ecological care centre, which places the emphasis on comfort and safety.

Centre of the Cell: Science Comes to Life.

PubMed

Balkwill, Frances; Chambers, Katie

2015-01-01

Centre of the Cell is a unique biomedical science education centre, a widening participation and outreach project in London's East End. This article describes Centre of the Cell's first five years of operation, the evolution of the project in response to audience demand, and the impact of siting a major public engagement project within a research laboratory.

Waste management in primary healthcare centres of Iran.

PubMed

Mesdaghinia, Alireza; Naddafi, Kazem; Mahvi, Amir Hossein; Saeedi, Reza

2009-06-01

The waste management practices in primary healthcare centres of Iran were investigated in the present study. A total of 120 primary healthcare centres located across the country were selected using the cluster sampling method and the current situation of healthcare waste management was determined through field investigation. The quantities of solid waste and wastewater generation per outpatient were found to be 60 g outpatient(-1) day(-1) and 26 L outpatient(-1) day(-1), respectively. In all of the facilities, sharp objects were separated almost completely, but separation of other types of hazardous healthcare solid waste was only done in 25% of the centres. The separated hazardous solid waste materials were treated by incineration, temporary incineration and open burning methods in 32.5, 8.3 and 42.5% of the healthcare centres, respectively. In 16.7% of the centres the hazardous solid wastes were disposed of without any treatment. These results indicate that the management of waste materials in primary healthcare centres in Iran faced some problems. Staff training and awareness, separation of healthcare solid waste, establishment of the autoclave method for healthcare solid waste treatment and construction of septic tanks and disinfection units in the centres that were without access to a sewer system are the major measures that are suggested for improvement of the waste management practices.

Learner-centred teaching in a non-learner-centred world: An interpretive phenomenological study of the lived experience of clinical nursing faculty.

PubMed

Oyelana, Olabisi; Martin, Donna; Scanlan, Judith; Temple, Beverley

2018-08-01

With the growing complexities in the contemporary health care system, there is a challenge of preparing nurses for the practice demands. To this end, learner-centred teaching has emerged in many nursing curricula in Canada and evidence indicates its effectiveness in developing the essential practice skills in nursing students. It is important to examine the experience of the clinical faculty members who implement learner-centred teaching, as doing so would provide an insight to the factors that may hinder the implementation of learner-centred teaching in the practice settings. This phenomenological study aimed to address two research questions: what does learner-centred teaching mean to clinical nurse faculty? What is the lived experience of clinical nursing faculty who incorporate learner-centred teaching? Ten clinical nurse faculty members who had at least two years of clinical teaching experience volunteered to participate in the study. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide and audio recorder. Additional data sources included a demographic survey and a reflective journal. Multiple sub-themes emerged from this study from which three significant themes were consolidated: diversity of meanings, facilitators of LCT, and barriers to LCT. However, an overarching theme of "learner-centred teaching in a non-learner-centred world" was coined from participants' accounts of their experiences of barriers in incorporating LCT in the practice settings. A collaborative effort between faculty and the stakeholders is paramount to a successful implementation of learner-centred teaching in practice settings. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Reconciling evidence‐based medicine and patient‐centred care: defining evidence‐based inputs to patient‐centred decisions

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Abstract Evidence‐based and patient‐centred health care movements have each enhanced the discussion of how health care might best be delivered, yet the two have evolved separately and, in some views, remain at odds with each other. No clear model has emerged to enable practitioners to capitalize on the advantages of each so actual practice often becomes, to varying degrees, an undefined mishmash of each. When faced with clinical uncertainty, it becomes easy for practitioners to rely on formulas for care developed explicitly by expert panels, or on the tacit ones developed from experience or habit. Either way, these tendencies towards ‘cookbook’ medicine undermine the view of patients as unique particulars, and diminish what might be considered patient‐centred care. The sequence in which evidence is applied in the care process, however, is critical for developing a model of care that is both evidence based and patient centred. This notion derives from a paradigm for knowledge delivery and patient care developed over decades by Dr. Lawrence Weed. Weed's vision enables us to view evidence‐based and person‐centred medicine as wholly complementary, using computer tools to more fully and reliably exploit the vast body of collective knowledge available to define patients’ uniqueness and identify the options to guide patients. The transparency of the approach to knowledge delivery facilitates meaningful practitioner–patient dialogue in determining the appropriate course of action. Such a model for knowledge delivery and care is essential for integrating evidence‐based and patient‐centred approaches. PMID:26456314

Reconciling evidence-based medicine and patient-centred care: defining evidence-based inputs to patient-centred decisions.

PubMed

Weaver, Robert R

2015-12-01

Evidence-based and patient-centred health care movements have each enhanced the discussion of how health care might best be delivered, yet the two have evolved separately and, in some views, remain at odds with each other. No clear model has emerged to enable practitioners to capitalize on the advantages of each so actual practice often becomes, to varying degrees, an undefined mishmash of each. When faced with clinical uncertainty, it becomes easy for practitioners to rely on formulas for care developed explicitly by expert panels, or on the tacit ones developed from experience or habit. Either way, these tendencies towards 'cookbook' medicine undermine the view of patients as unique particulars, and diminish what might be considered patient-centred care. The sequence in which evidence is applied in the care process, however, is critical for developing a model of care that is both evidence based and patient centred. This notion derives from a paradigm for knowledge delivery and patient care developed over decades by Dr. Lawrence Weed. Weed's vision enables us to view evidence-based and person-centred medicine as wholly complementary, using computer tools to more fully and reliably exploit the vast body of collective knowledge available to define patients' uniqueness and identify the options to guide patients. The transparency of the approach to knowledge delivery facilitates meaningful practitioner-patient dialogue in determining the appropriate course of action. Such a model for knowledge delivery and care is essential for integrating evidence-based and patient-centred approaches. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[Definition of endometriosis expert centres].

PubMed

Chanavaz-Lacheray, I; Darai, E; Descamps, P; Agostini, A; Poilblanc, M; Rousset, P; Bolze, P-A; Panel, P; Collinet, P; Hebert, T; Graesslin, O; Martigny, H; Brun, J-L; Dechaud, H; Mezan De Malartic, C; Piechon, L; Wattiez, A; Chapron, C; Golfier, F

2018-03-01

The Collège national des gynécologues obstétriciens français (CNGOF), in agreement with the Société de chirurgie gynécologique et pelvienne (SCGP), has set up a commission in 2017 to define endometriosis expert centres, with the aim of optimizing endometriosis care in France. The committee included members from university and general hospitals as well as private facilities, representing medical, surgical and radiological aspects of endometriosis care. Opinion of endometriosis patients' associations was obtained prior to writing this work. The final text was presented and unanimously validated by the members of the CNGOF Board of Directors at its meeting of October 13, 2017. Based on analysis of current management of endometriosis and the last ten years opportunities in France, the committee has been able to define the contours of endometriosis expert centres. The objectives, production specifications, mode of operation, missions and funding for these centres were described. The following missions have been specifically defined: territorial organization, global and referral care, communication and teaching as well as research and evaluation. Because of its daily impact for women and its economic burden in France, endometriosis justifies launching of expert centres throughout the country with formal accreditation by health authorities, ideally as part of the National Health Plan. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The Role of Parents' Educational Level and Centre Type in Parent Satisfaction with Early Childhood Care Centres: A Study in Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelesidou, Sofia; Chatzikou, Maria; Tsiamagka, Evmorfia; Koutra, Evangelia; Abakoumkin, Georgios; Tseliou, Eleftheria

2017-01-01

This research examines specific facets of parent satisfaction with childcare centres, namely satisfaction with parent-centre communication and the educational services they provide, as well as respective parent beliefs. These were investigated in relation to centre type (private vs public) and parents' education. Parents of different educational…

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity The Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF).

PubMed

Bramness, Jørgen G; Clausen, Thomas; Duckert, Fanny; Ravndal, Edle; Waal, Helge

2011-08-01

The Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF) at the University of Oslo is a newly established, clinical addiction research centre. It is located at the Oslo University Hospital and has a major focus on opioid dependency, investigating Norwegian opioid maintenance treatment (OMT), with special interest in OMT during pregnancy, mortality, morbidity and criminality before, during and after OMT and alternatives to OMT, such as the use of naltrexone implants. The well-developed health registries of Norway are core assets that also allow the opportunity for other types of substance abuse research. This research includes health services, abuse of prescription drugs and drugs of abuse in connection with traffic. The centre also focuses upon comorbidity, investigating the usefulness and limitations of psychometric instruments, drug abuse in different psychiatric treatment settings and internet-based interventions for hazardous alcohol consumption. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Apollo 15 - Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Panorama

NASA Image and Video Library

1971-08-02

S71-43943 (2 Aug. 1971) --- Mosaic photographs which compose a 360-degree panoramic view of the Apollo 15 Hadley-Apennine landing site, taken near the close of the third lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) by astronauts David Scott and James Irwin. This group of photographs was designated the Rover "RIP" Pan because the Lunar Roving Vehicle was parked in its final position prior to the two crewmen returning to the Lunar Module. The astronaut taking the pan was standing 325 feet east of the Lunar Module (LM). The Rover was parked about 300 feet east of the LM. This mosaic covers a field of view from about north-northeast to about south. Visible on the horizon from left to right are: Mount Hadley; high peaks of the Apennine Mountains which are farther in the distance than either Mount Hadley or Hadley Delta Mountain; Silver Spur on the Apennine Front; and the eastern portion of Hadley Delta. Note Rover tracks in the foreground. The numbers of the other two views composing the 360-degree pan are S71-43940 and S71-43942.

Estimates of runoff using water-balance and atmospheric general circulation models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wolock, D.M.; McCabe, G.J.

1999-01-01

The effects of potential climate change on mean annual runoff in the conterminous United States (U.S.) are examined using a simple water-balance model and output from two atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). The two GCMs are from the Canadian Centre for Climate Prediction and Analysis (CCC) and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research (HAD). In general, the CCC GCM climate results in decreases in runoff for the conterminous U.S., and the HAD GCM climate produces increases in runoff. These estimated changes in runoff primarily are the result of estimated changes in precipitation. The changes in mean annual runoff, however, mostly are smaller than the decade-to-decade variability in GCM-based mean annual runoff and errors in GCM-based runoff. The differences in simulated runoff between the two GCMs, together with decade-to-decade variability and errors in GCM-based runoff, cause the estimates of changes in runoff to be uncertain and unreliable.

Anatomy of ridge discontinuities, transform fault and overlapping spreading centre, at the slow spreading sedimented Andaman Sea Spreading Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jourdain, A.; Singh, S. C.; Klinger, Y.

2013-12-01

Transform faults are the major discontinuities and define the main segment boundaries along spreading centres but their anatomy is poorly understood because of their complex seafloor morphology, even though they are observed at all types of spreading centres. Here, we present high-resolution seismic reflection images across the sedimented Andaman Sea Transform Fault where the sediments record the faulting and allow studying the evolution of the transform fault both in space and time. Furthermore, sediments allow the imaging of the faults down to the Moho depth that provides insight on the interplay between tectonic and magmatic processes. On the other hand, overlapping spreading centres (OSC) are small-scale discontinuities, possibly transient, and are observed only along fast or intermediate spreading centres. Exceptionally, an overlapping spreading centre is present at the slow spreading Andaman Sea Spreading Centre, which, we suggest, is due to the presence of thick sediments that hamper the efficient hydrothermal circulation allowing magma to stay much longer in the crust at different depths, and up to close to the segment ends, leading to the development of an overlapping spreading. The seismic reflection images across the OSC indicate the presence of large magma bodies in the crust. Seismic images also provide images of active faults allowing to study the link between faulting and magmatism. Interestingly, an earthquake swarm occurred at propagating limb of the OSC in 2006, after the great 2004 Andaman-Sumatra earthquake of Mw=9.3, highlighting the migration of the OSC westward. In this paper, we will show seismic reflection images and interpret these images in the light of bathymetry and earthquake data, and provide the anatomy of the ridge discontinuities along the slow spreading sedimented Andaman Sea Spreading Centre.

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity: The Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia, Canada

PubMed Central

Stockwell, Tim; Reist, Dan; Macdonald, Scott; Benoit, Cecilia; Jansson, Mikael

2015-01-01

The Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia (CARBC) was established as a multi-campus and multi-disciplinary research centre administered by the University of Victoria (UVic) in late 2003. Its core funding is provided from interest payments on an endowment of CAD$10.55 million. It is supported by a commitment to seven faculty appointments in various departments at UVic. The Centre has two offices, an administration and research office in Victoria and a knowledge exchange unit in Vancouver. The two offices are collaborating on the implementation of CARBC’s first 5-year plan which seeks to build capacity in British Columbia for integrated multi-disciplinary research and knowledge exchange in the areas substance use, addictions and harm reduction. Present challenges include losses to the endowment caused by the 2008/2009 economic crisis and difficulties negotiating faculty positions with the university administration. Despite these hurdles, to date each year has seen increased capacity for the Centre in terms of affiliated scientists, funding and staffing as well as output in terms of published reports, electronic resources and impacts on policy and practice. Areas of special research interest include: drug testing in the work-place, epidemiological monitoring, substance use and injury, pricing and taxation policies, privatization of liquor monopolies, poly-substance use, health determinants of indigenous peoples, street-involved youth and other vulnerable populations at risk of substance use problems. Further information about the Centre and its activities can be found on http://www.carbc.ca. PMID:20078479

Energy efficiency in U.K. shopping centres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangiarotti, Michela

Energy efficiency in shopping centres means providing comfortable internal environment and services to the occupants with minimum energy use in a cost-effective and environmentally sensitive manner. This research considers the interaction of three factors affecting the energy efficiency of shopping centres: i) performance of the building fabric and services ii) management of the building in terms of operation, control, maintenance and replacement of the building fabric and services, and company's energy policy iii) occupants' expectation for comfort and awareness of energy efficiency. The aim of the investigation is to determine the role of the above factors in the energy consumption and carbon emissions of shopping centres and the scope for reducing this energy usage by changing one or all the three factors. The study also attempts to prioritize the changes in the above factors that are more cost-effective at reducing that energy consumption and identify the benefits and main economic and legal drivers for energy efficiency in shopping centres. To achieve these targets, three case studies have been analysed. Using energy data from bills, the performance of the selected case studies has been assessed to establish trends and current energy consumption and carbon emissions of shopping centres and their related causes. A regression analysis has attempted to break down the energy consumption of the landlords' area by end-use to identify the main sources of energy usage and consequently introduce cost-effective measures for saving energy. A monitoring and occupants' survey in both landlords' and tenants' areas have been carried out at the same time to compare the objective data of the environmental conditions with the subjective impressions of shoppers and shopkeepers. In particular, the monitoring aimed at assessing the internal environment to identify possible causes of discomfort and opportunities for introducing energy saving measures. The survey looked at

Identifying robust regional precipitation responses to regional aerosol emissions perturbations in three coupled chemistry-climate models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westervelt, D. M.; Fiore, A. M.; Lamarque, J. F.; Previdi, M. J.; Conley, A. J.; Shindell, D. T.; Mascioli, N. R.; Correa, G. J. P.; Faluvegi, G.; Horowitz, L. W.

2017-12-01

Regional emissions of anthropogenic aerosols and their precursors will likely decrease for the remainder of the 21st century, due to emission reduction policies enacted to protect human health. Although there is some evidence that regional climate effects of aerosols can be significant, we currently lack a robust understanding of the magnitude, spatio-temporal pattern, statistical significance, and physical processes responsible for these influences, especially for precipitation. Here, we aim to quantify systematically the precipitation response to regional changes in aerosols and investigate underlying mechanisms using three fully coupled chemistry-climate models: NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Coupled Model 3 (GFDL-CM3), NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM), and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies ModelE2 (GISS-E2). The central approach we use is to contrast a long control experiment (400 years, run with perpetual year 2000 emissions) with 14 individual aerosol emissions perturbation experiments ( 200 years each). We perturb emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbonaceous aerosol (BC and OM) within several world regions and assess which responses are significant relative to internal variability determined by the control run and robust across the three models. Initial results show significant changes in precipitation in several vulnerable regions including the Western Sahel and the Indian subcontinent. SO2 emissions reductions from Europe and the United States have the largest impact on precipitation among most of the selected response regions. The precipitation response to emissions changes from these regions projects onto known modes of variability, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Across all perturbation experiments, we find a strong linear relationship between the responses of Sahel precipitation and the interhemispheric temperature difference, suggesting a common mechanism of an

SPOT4 Management Centre

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Labrune, Yves; Labbe, X.; Roussel, A.; Vielcanet, P.

1994-01-01

In the context of the CNES SPOT4 program CISI is particularly responsible for the development of the SPOT4 Management Centre, part of the SPOT4 ground control system located at CNES Toulouse (France) designed to provide simultaneous control over two satellites. The main operational activities are timed to synchronize with satellite visibilities (ten usable passes per day). The automatic capability of this system is achieved through agenda services (sequence of operations as defined and planned by operator). Therefore, the SPOT4 Management Centre offers limited, efficient and secure human interventions for supervision and decision making. This paper emphasizes the main system characteristics as degree of automation, level of dependability and system parameterization.

The British society for gynaecological endoscopy endometriosis centres project.

PubMed

Saridogan, Ertan; Byrne, Dominic

2013-01-01

Management of advanced endometriosis frequently requires a multidisciplinary team approach and international guidelines suggest treatment in centres of expertise. Due to variability of published outcome data, prospective data collection and standardisation of reporting systems have been suggested to improve our understanding of surgical outcomes. The British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE) Endometriosis Centres were established to manage rectovaginal endometriosis, to collect treatment and outcome data, and to provide these data to patients, clinicians and healthcare commissioners. The BSGE Endometriosis Centres Project works on the principle of voluntary participation. Centres that would like to be recognised or accredited as a BSGE Endometriosis Centre need to fulfil a number of basic requirements including working in appropriate multidisciplinary clinical teams, auditing their outcome and having sufficient workload to maintain their surgical skills. The project has already had an impact on where the patients with advanced endometriosis are treated in the United Kingdom. Patients and healthcare professionals are becoming aware of their presence and more patients with the condition are being referred to these centres. It is also expected that the accredited centre status would be required for funding by healthcare commissioners for this type endometriosis. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity: National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, India--a profile.

PubMed

Ray, Rajat; Dhawan, Anju; Chopra, Anita

2013-10-01

The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) is a part of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a premier autonomous medical university in India. This article provides an account of its origin and its contribution to the field of substance use disorder at the national and international levels. Since its establishment, the NDDTC has played a major role in the development of various replicable models of care, the training of post-graduate students of psychiatry, research, policy development and planning. An assessment of the magnitude of drug abuse in India began in the early 1990s and this was followed by a National Survey on Extent, Patterns and Trends of Drug Abuse in 2004. Several models of clinical care have been developed for population subgroups in diverse settings. The centre played an important role in producing data and resource material which helped to scale up opioid substitution treatment in India. A nationwide database on the profile of patients seeking treatment (Drug Abuse Monitoring System) at government drug treatment centres has also been created. The centre has provided valuable inputs for the Government of India's programme planning. Besides clinical studies, research has also focused on pre-clinical studies. Capacity-building is an important priority, with training curricula and resource material being developed for doctors and paramedical staff. Many of these training programmes are conducted in collaboration with other institutions in the country. The NDDTC has received funding from several national and international organizations for research and scientific meetings, and, most recently (2012), it has been designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Substance Abuse. © 2012 The Authors, Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Effects of Solar Dimming and Brightening on the Terrestrial Carbon Sink

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercado, L. M.; Bellouin, N.; Sitch, S.; Boucher, O.; Huntingford, C.; Cox, P. M.

2008-12-01

A decrease in total solar radiation (Liepert, 2002, Stanhill and Cohen, 2001, Wild et al., 2005) has been observed at the earth surface over the 1950-1990 period, called solar dimming. Such dimming gradually started to transform into brightening in some regions of the world since the late 1980s (Wild et al. 2005). Both dimming and brightening are likely to be linked to an increase and decrease in cloud cover and scattering and absorption of light by tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols respectively (Kvalevag and Myhre, 2007). Theoretical and observational studies have shown that plant photosynthesis of forest and crop ecosystems is more efficient under diffuse light conditions (Gu et al., 2003, Niyogi et al., 2004, Oliveira et al., 2007, Roderick et al., 2001). However, this effect has not yet been accounted for in global carbon cycle simulations because such models lack the mechanism that includes the diffuse irradiance effects on photosynthesis. The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of changes in radiation during the 1900-2100 period on land productivity and carbon storage. We use an offline version of the land surface scheme of the Hadley centre model (Mercado et al., 2007) which has been modified to account for variations of direct and diffuse radiation on sunlit and shaded canopy photosynthesis. Additionally, we use short wave and photosynthetic active radiation fields reconstructed from the Hadley centre climate model which takes into account the scattering and absorption of light by tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols. We describe the simulation of the land carbon cycle through the dimming-brightening periods, and diagnose the impact that changes in diffuse radiation had on the land carbon sink. We also discuss the implications of these results for the future land carbon-sink, under likely changes in the atmospheric aerosol loading.

Taiwanese maternal health in the postpartum nursing centre.

PubMed

Hung, Chich-Hsiu; Yu, Ching-Yun; Ou, Chu-Chun; Liang, Wei-Wen

2010-04-01

To investigate the association between postpartum stress as well as social support and the general health status of women recently discharged from postpartum nursing centres where the ritual of Tso-Yueh-Tzu is followed. Taiwanese women stay in postpartum nursing centres to take care of their newborn babies and perform the traditional Chinese ritual of Tso-Yueh-Tzu, the custom of a postpartum month-long rest. A non-experimental research design was used in the study. Two hundred and fifty-eight postpartum women who had stayed in postpartum nursing centres for at least 20 days were recruited at eight postpartum nursing centres in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area of southern Taiwan. They were administered the Hung Postpartum Stress Scale, the Social Support Scale and the Chinese Health Questionnaire. Women without minor psychiatric morbidity had higher social support, lower postpartum stress and longer length-of-stays in the postpartum care centre than women with minor psychiatric morbidity. Postpartum stress revolved around changes in body shape. A one-point increase in postpartum stress increased the likelihood that a mother would suffer minor psychiatric morbidity by 1.04 times; while giving birth to a boy decreased that likelihood by 0.51 times. This study found Tso-Yueh-Tzu as practised in postpartum nursing centres gave the postpartum women the opportunity to receive tangible support and, therefore, helped decrease postpartum stress and improved their general health. The greatest source of postpartum stress was concern over negative body changes. The postpartum nursing centre plays an important role in helping postpartum Taiwanese women observe the traditional ritual of Tso-Yueh-Tzu and in improving these women's general health. These centres may want to pay more attention to providing exercise that promotes body toning and relaxation.

Critiquing Child-Centred Pedagogy to Bring Children and Early Childhood Educators into the Centre of a Democratic Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langford, Rachel

2010-01-01

Child-centred pedagogy is both an enduring approach and a revered concept in Western-based teacher preparation. This article weaves together major critiques of child-centred pedagogy that draw on critical feminist, postmodernist and post-structural theories. These critiques have particular relevance for conceptualizing what it can mean to be, and…

Reducing cooling energy consumption in data centres and critical facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cross, Gareth

Given the rise of our everyday reliance on computers in all walks of life, from checking the train times to paying our credit card bills online, the need for computational power is ever increasing. Other than the ever-increasing performance of home Personal Computers (PC's) this reliance has given rise to a new phenomenon in the last 10 years ago. The data centre. Data centres contain vast arrays of IT cabinets loaded with servers that perform millions of computational equations every second. It is these data centres that allow us to continue with our reliance on the internet and the PC. As more and more data centres become necessary due to the increase in computing processing power required for the everyday activities we all take for granted so the energy consumed by these data centres rises. Not only are more and more data centres being constructed daily, but operators are also looking at ways to squeeze more processing from their existing data centres. This in turn leads to greater heat outputs and therefore requires more cooling. Cooling data centres requires a sizeable energy input, indeed to many megawatts per data centre site. Given the large amounts of money dependant on the successful operation of data centres, in particular for data centres operated by financial institutions, the onus is predominantly on ensuring the data centres operate with no technical glitches rather than in an energy conscious fashion. This report aims to investigate the ways and means of reducing energy consumption within data centres without compromising the technology the data centres are designed to house. As well as discussing the individual merits of the technologies and their implementation technical calculations will be undertaken where necessary to determine the levels of energy saving, if any, from each proposal. To enable comparison between each proposal any design calculations within this report will be undertaken against a notional data facility. This data facility will

Real-time pricing strategy of micro-grid energy centre considering price-based demand response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhiheng; Zhang, Yongjun; Wang, Gan

2017-07-01

With the development of energy conversion technology such as power to gas (P2G), fuel cell and so on, the coupling between energy sources becomes more and more closely. Centralized dispatch among electricity, natural gas and heat will become a trend. With the goal of maximizing the system revenue, this paper establishes the model of micro-grid energy centre based on energy hub. According to the proposed model, the real-time pricing strategy taking into account price-based demand response of load is developed. And the influence of real-time pricing strategy on the peak load shifting is discussed. In addition, the impact of wind power predicted inaccuracy on real-time pricing strategy is analysed.

Canadian Educational Development Centre Websites: More Ebb than Flow?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Nicola

2010-01-01

This paper examines information portrayed on Canadian educational development (ED) centre websites and, in particular, whether information that corresponds to questions compiled from a literature search of ED centre practices is readily available from centre websites. This study phase is part of a larger national study of Canadian educational…

Need and feasibility of telemedicine in non-urban day care centres.

PubMed

Setia, Monika; DelliFraine, Jami L

2010-01-01

There appear to have been no studies of telemedicine in rural day care centres. We have assessed the feasibility of using telemedicine in eight rural day care centres in Pennsylvania, from the day care centres' perspective. The average number of children in these centres was 76 (range 20-150). The centres sent an average of 4.7 children home each month because of illness. Using telephone and face-to-face interviews, we assessed their perceived need for and familiarity with telemedicine, as well as their openness and preparedness for implementing telemedicine. Most day care centres reported a need for telemedicine and were open to learning how to use it. Some centres were concerned about adequate space for the equipment, but overall, the centres felt that their resources were adequate. Telemedicine in rural day care centres appears to be feasible, and would have the potential to save time and money for parents, as well as perhaps improving health care for children in rural areas.

``Supemodeling" by Coupling Multiple Atmospheres to A Single Ocean Simulates Single-ITCZ Climatology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duane, G. S.; Shen, M. L.; Keenlyside, N. S.

2017-12-01

If the members of an ensemble of different models are allowed to interact with one another in run time, predictive skill can be improved as compared to that of any individual model or any average of individual model outputs. Inter-model connections in such an interactive ensemble can be trained, using historical data, so that the resulting ``supermodel" synchronizes with reality when observations are continuously assimilated, as in weather prediction. In climate-projection mode, the supermodel, after training, reproduces the attractor of the real system. We consider a variant of full supermodeling in which the models are only connected via the fluxes at the ocean-atmosphere interface. Two ECHAM atmospheres that differ in their convection parametrization schemes are thus connected to a single, shared ocean. The atmospheres partially synchronize at lower levels in the tropics, giving more realistic SST patterns than the constituent models: Although the constituent models both exhibit double ITCZ's, with cold tongues that extend too far west, the supermodel has the desired single ITCZ [Shen et al., Geophys. Res. Lett. 2016]. Here we explain the physical mechanism through which the supermodel removes even defects that are shared. One model (Nordeng) produces an unrealistically large zonal wind stress that results in upwelling of cold water and westward extension of the cold tongue. The other model (Tiedtke) produces an unrealistically small zonal wind stress that also implies a reduced wind stress curl off the equator because of Hadley-Walker coupling. The reduced wind stress curl leads to downwelling off the equator, and resultant upwelling of cold water at the equator through the tropical ocean cell. Thus the two constituent models give erroneous patterns of the same type, while the supermodel, which combines the models dynamically, avoids the error. If the models were linear, the errors of the two models would average; the success of the supermodel depends on

HIV prevalence, attitudes and behaviour in clients of a confidential HIV testing and counselling centre in Uganda.

PubMed

Müller, O; Barugahare, L; Schwartländer, B; Byaruhanga, E; Kataaha, P; Kyeyune, D; Heckmann, W; Ankrah, M

1992-08-01

To describe clients, operation and impact of an African public HIV testing and counselling centre. Analysis of samples from clients attending the AIDS Information Centre (AIC) in Kampala, Uganda in early 1991. HIV-1-positive and HIV-negative consecutive clients (250 of each), 86 consecutive couples, and 200 consecutive clients who were HIV-negative in 1990 and were attending for their repeat test. HIV seroprevalence rates, attitudes, behaviour and behaviour change. HIV-1 prevalence was 28% overall, 24% in men and 35% in women. Reasons for taking the HIV test were a planned marriage or a new relationship (27%; 84% in couples), to plan for the future (35%), distrust of sexual partner (14%) and illness or disease/death (not HIV-specific) of partner (20%). The majority of the reported intentions in response to a positive or a negative HIV test result were positive, demonstrating the ability to cope with this information. Of repeat clients, two (1%) had become HIV-1-positive. The majority of repeat clients reported one sexual partner only (67%) or sexual abstinence (25%). Compared with pre-test information from AIC clients attending for the first time, repeat clients reported casual sexual contacts less often (6 versus 25%) and, of those, the majority used condoms. Our study demonstrates the demand for and the feasibility of confidential HIV testing and counseling services in Uganda, and illustrates the value of these services in achieving behaviour changes. Such services should be considered an additional approach for the reduction of HIV transmission in Africa, especially in areas with high HIV seroprevalence rates.

Maritime Continent seasonal climate biases in AMIP experiments of the CMIP5 multimodel ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toh, Ying Ying; Turner, Andrew G.; Johnson, Stephanie J.; Holloway, Christopher E.

2018-02-01

The fidelity of 28 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) models in simulating mean climate over the Maritime Continent in the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) experiment is evaluated in this study. The performance of AMIP models varies greatly in reproducing seasonal mean climate and the seasonal cycle. The multi-model mean has better skill at reproducing the observed mean climate than the individual models. The spatial pattern of 850 hPa wind is better simulated than the precipitation in all four seasons. We found that model horizontal resolution is not a good indicator of model performance. Instead, a model's local Maritime Continent biases are somewhat related to its biases in the local Hadley circulation and global monsoon. The comparison with coupled models in CMIP5 shows that AMIP models generally performed better than coupled models in the simulation of the global monsoon and local Hadley circulation but less well at simulating the Maritime Continent annual cycle of precipitation. To characterize model systematic biases in the AMIP runs, we performed cluster analysis on Maritime Continent annual cycle precipitation. Our analysis resulted in two distinct clusters. Cluster I models are able to capture both the winter monsoon and summer monsoon shift, but they overestimate the precipitation; especially during the JJA and SON seasons. Cluster II models simulate weaker seasonal migration than observed, and the maximum rainfall position stays closer to the equator throughout the year. The tropics-wide properties of these clusters suggest a connection between the skill of simulating global properties of the monsoon circulation and the skill of simulating the regional scale of Maritime Continent precipitation.

Decision for disclosure: The experiences of Iranian infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation procedures.

PubMed

Hadizadeh-Talasaz, Fatemeh; Roudsari, Robab Latifnejad; Simbar, Masoumeh

2015-01-01

Controversy surrounding disclosure among the recipients of assisted reproductive donation procedures is escalating worldwide, but little research has been conducted in this topic. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation procedures. In this exploratory qualitative study, 32 patients (nine couples and 14 women) who were candidates to use donor eggs, donor embryos or surrogacy, and 5 members of infertility treatment team including gynaecologists, midwives and psychologist (total 37) were purposively selected from the Montaserieh Infertility Research Centre at Mashhad, Iran in 2012 and interviewed using a semi-structured in-depth method. Data were analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis with MAXqda software. One overarching theme, entitled 'experiencing uncertainty surrounding the disclosure to others' was identified from the data. This theme contained two subthemes including 'Couples' decisions to not disclose to others' and 'Couples' decisions to disclose to others'. Five categories formed the first subtheme, and the second subtheme emerged from four categories which are discussed in this paper. The main reason for secrecy was concern over societal negative views about assisted reproductive donation procedures. This worry deprived the couples from support from family and friends and as a result requires them to tolerate psychological pressure when using such procedures.

Amazonian forest dieback under climate-carbon cycle projections for the 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, P. M.; Betts, R. A.; Collins, M.; Harris, P. P.; Huntingford, C.; Jones, C. D.

The first GCM climate change projections to include dynamic vegetation and an interactive carbon cycle produced a very significant amplification of global warming over the 21st century. Under the IS92a ``business as usual'' emissions scenario CO2 concentrations reached about 980ppmv by 2100, which is about 280ppmv higher than when these feedbacks were ignored. The major contribution to the increased CO2 arose from reductions in soil carbon because global warming is assumed to accelerate respiration. However, there was also a lesser contribution from an alarming loss of the Amazonian rainforest. This paper describes the phenomenon of Amazonian forest dieback under elevated CO2 in the Hadley Centre climate-carbon cycle model.

LHCSR3 affects de-coupling and re-coupling of LHCII to PSII during state transitions in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

PubMed Central

Roach, Thomas; Na, Chae Sun

2017-01-01

Photosynthetic organisms have to tolerate rapid changes in light intensity, which is facilitated by non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and involves modification of energy transfer from light-harvesting complexes (LHC) to the photosystem reaction centres. NPQ includes dissipating excess light energy to heat (qE) and the reversible coupling of LHCII to photosystems (state transitions/qT), which are considered separate NPQ mechanisms. In the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii the LHCSR3 protein has a well characterised role in qE. Here, it is shown in the npq4 mutant, deficient in LHCSR3, that energy coupling to photosystem II (PSII) more akin to qT is also disrupted, but no major differences in LHC phosphorylation or LHC compositions were found in comparison to wild-type cells. The qT of wild-type cells possessed two kinetically distinguishable phases, with LHCSR3 participating in the more rapid (<2 min) phase. This LHCSR3-mediated qT was sensitive to physiological levels of H2O2, which accelerated qE induction, revealing a way that may help C. reinhardtii tolerate a sudden increase in light intensity. Overall, a clear mechanistic overlap between qE and qT is shown. PMID:28233792

A certification/accreditation model for Haemophilia Centres in Italy

PubMed Central

Mannucci, Pier Mannuccio; Menichini, Ivana

2014-01-01

Background The Italian Association of Haemophilia Centres has developed a voluntary programme of professional accreditation of Haemophilia Centres, run by its members. Participation in the programme, which aims to foster staff involvement in clinical governance, includes both medical personnel and nurses. Materials and methods Accreditation is awarded provided the candidate Haemophilia Centre is able to adhere to a pre-established set of quality standards and meet a number of clinical and organisational requirements, previously defined on the basis of evidence-based medicine. Self-evaluation is the first step in the programme, followed by a site visit by a team of peer professionals experienced in quality auditing. Results The programme has so far involved 21 Italian Haemophilia Centres. The comparison between self- and peer-evaluation revealed less discrepancies for disease-related than for organisational requirements, the latter being met to a lesser degree by most Haemophilia Centres. Discussion This programme of professional accreditation developed by the Italian Association of Haemophilia Centres has the potential to describe, monitor and improve clinical and organisational performances in the management of patients with haemophilia and allied inherited coagulation disorders. It should also be seen as a contribution to the implementation of the strategy for improving professional governance in Haemophilia Centres. PMID:24922289

Differential BPFs with Multiple Transmission Zeros Based on Terminated Coupled Lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Yiming; Yang, Guo; Wu, Wen

2018-04-01

Differential bandpass filters (BPFs) named Filter A and Filter B based on Terminated Coupled Lines (TCLs) are proposed in this letter. The TCLs contributes to not only three poles in differential-mode (DM) for wideband filtering response but also multiple zeros in both DM and common-mode (CM) offering wide DM out-of-band rejection and good CM suppression. Fabricated filters centred at 3.5 GHz with wide DM passband and wideband CM suppression have been designed and measured. The filters improved the noise suppression capability of the communication and radiometer systems. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement.

The DIY Digital Medical Centre.

PubMed

Timmis, James Kenneth; Timmis, Kenneth

2017-09-01

Healthcare systems worldwide are confronted with major economic, organizational and logistical challenges. Historic evolution of health care has led to significant healthcare sector fragmentation, resulting in systemic inefficiencies and suboptimal resource exploitation. To attain a sustainable healthcare model, fundamental, system-wide improvements that effectively network, and ensure fulfilment of potential synergies between sectors, and include and facilitate coherent strategic planning and organisation of healthcare infrastructure are needed. Critically, they must be specifically designed to sustainably achieve peak performance within the current policy environment for cost-control, and efficiency and quality improvement for service delivery. We propose creation of a new healthcare cluster, to be embedded in existing healthcare systems. It consists of (i) local 24/7 walk-in virtually autonomous do-it-yourself Digital Medical Centres performing routine diagnosis, monitoring, prevention, treatment and standardized documentation and health outcome assessment/reporting, which are online interfaced with (ii) regional 24/7 eClinician Centres providing on-demand clinical supervision/assistance to Digital Medical Centre patients. Both of these are, in turn, online interfaced with (iii) the National Clinical Informatics Centre, which houses the national patient data centre (cloud) and data analysis units that conduct patient- and population-level, personalized and predictive(-medicine) intervention optimization analyses. The National Clinical Informatics Centre also interfaces with biomedical research and prioritizes and accelerates the translation of new discoveries into clinical practice. The associated Health Policy Innovation and Evaluation Centre rapidly integrates new findings with health policy/regulatory discussions. This new cluster would synergistically link all health system components in a circular format, enable not only access by all arms of the health

Reaching the Students that Student-Centred Learning Cannot Reach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hockings, Christine

2009-01-01

Student-centred learning has the potential to engage a more academically diverse student body than the more conventional teacher-centred approaches. In spite of the evidence in favour of student-centred learning, a recent study showed that it was ineffective for around 30% of undergraduates in a large and diverse group studying business operations…

Analysis of Z 0 couplings to charged leptons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akrawy, M. Z.; Alexander, G.; Allison, J.; Allport, P. P.; Anderson, K. J.; Armitage, J. C.; Arnison, G. T. J.; Ashton, P.; Azuelos, G.; Baines, J. T. M.; Ball, A. H.; Banks, J.; Barker, G. J.; Barlow, R. J.; Batley, J. R.; Becker, J.; Behnke, T.; Bell, K. W.; Bella, G.; Bethke, S.; Biebel, O.; Binder, U.; Bloodworth, I. J.; Bock, P.; Breuker, H.; Brown, R. M.; Brun, R.; Buijs, A.; Burckhart, H. J.; Capiluppi, P.; Carnegie, R. K.; Carter, A. A.; Carter, J. R.; Chang, C. Y.; Charlton, D. G.; Chrin, J. T. M.; Clarke, P. E. L.; Cohen, I.; Collins, W. J.; Conboy, J. E.; Couch, M.; Coupland, M.; Cuffiani, M.; Dado, S.; Dallavalle, G. M.; Debu, P.; Deninno, M. M.; Dieckmann, A.; Dittmar, M.; Dixit, M. S.; Duchovni, E.; Duerdoth, I. P.; Duerdoth, I. P.; Dumas, D.; El Mamouni, H.; Elcombe, P. A.; Estabrooks, P. G.; Etzion, E.; Fabbri, F.; Farthouat, P.; Fischer, H. M.; Fong, D. G.; French, M. T.; Fukunaga, C.; Gaidot, A.; Ganel, O.; Gary, J. W.; Gascon, J.; Geddes, N. I.; Gee, C. N. P.; Geich-Gimbel, C.; Gensler, S. W.; Gentit, F. X.; Giacomelli, G.; Gibson, V.; Gibson, W. R.; Gillies, J. D.; Goldberg, J.; Goodrick, M. J.; Gorn, W.; Granite, D.; Gross, E.; Grunhaus, J.; Hagedorn, H.; Hagemann, J.; Hansroul, M.; Hargrove, C. K.; Hart, J.; Hattersley, P. M.; Hauschild, M.; Hawkes, C. M.; Heflin, E.; Hemingway, R. J.; Heuer, R. D.; Hill, J. C.; Hillier, S. J.; Ho, C.; Hobbs, J. D.; Hobson, P. R.; Hochman, D.; Holl, B.; Homer, R. J.; Hou, S. R.; Howarth, C. P.; Humbert, R.; Hughes-Jones, R. E.; Igo-Kemenes, P.; Ihssen, H.; Imrie, D. C.; Jawahery, A.; Jeffreys, P. W.; Jeremie, H.; Jimack, M.; Jobes, M.; Jones, R. W. L.; Jovanovic, P.; Karlen, D.; Kawagoe, K.; Kawamoto, T.; Kellogg, R. G.; Kennedy, B. W.; Kleinwort, C.; Klem, D. E.; Knop, G.; Kobayashi, T.; Kokott, T. P.; Köpke, L.; Kowalewski, R.; Kreutzmann, H.; von Krogh, J.; Kroll, J.; Kuwano, M.; Kyberd, P.; Lafferty, G. D.; Lamarche, F.; Larson, W. J.; Layter, J. G.; Le Du, P.; Leblanc, P.; Lee, A. M.; Lehto, M. H.; Lellouch, D.; Lennert, P.; Lessard, L.; Levinson, L.; Lloyd, S. L.; Loebinger, F. K.; Lorah, J. M.; Lorazo, B.; Losty, M. J.; Ludwig, J.; Lupu, N.; Ma, J.; Macbeth, A. A.; Mannelli, M.; Marcellini, S.; Maringer, G.; Martin, A. J.; Martin, J. P.; Mashimo, T.; Mättig, P.; Maur, U.; McMahon, T. J.; McNutt, J. R.; McPherson, A. C.; Meijers, F.; Menszner, D.; Merritt, F. S.; Mes, H.; Michelini, A.; Middleton, R. P.; Mikenberg, G.; Miller, D. J.; Milstene, C.; Minowa, M.; Mohr, W.; Montanari, A.; Mori, T.; Moss, M. W.; Murphy, P. G.; Murray, W. J.; Nellen, B.; Nguyen, H. H.; Nozaki, M.; O'Dowd, A. J. P.; O'Neale, S. W.; O'Neill, B. P.; Oakham, F. G.; Odorici, F.; Ogg, M.; Oh, H.; OregliaP, M. J.; Orito, S.; Pansart, J. P.; Patrick, G. N.; Pawley, S. J.; Pfister, P.; Pilcher, J. E.; Pinfold, J. L.; Plane, D. E.; Poli, B.; Pouladdej, A.; Pritchard, T. W.; Quast, G.; Raab, J.; Redmond, M. W.; Rees, D. L.; Regimbald, M.; Riles, K.; Roach, C. M.; Robins, S. A.; Rollnik, A.; Roney, J. M.; Rossberg, S.; Rossi, A. M.; Routenburg, P.; Runge, K.; Runolfsson, O.; Sanghera, S.; Sansum, R. A.; Sasaki, M.; Saunders, B. J.; Schaile, A. D.; Schaile, O.; Schappert, W.; Scharff-Hansen, P.; von der Schmitt, H.; Schreiber, S.; Schwarz, J.; Shapira, A.; Shen, B. C.; Sherwood, P.; Simon, A.; Singh, P.; Siroli, G. P.; Skuja, A.; Smith, A. M.; Smith, T. J.; Snow, G. A.; Spreadbury, E. J.; Springer, R. W.; Sproston, M.; Stephens, K.; Stier, H. E.; Ströhmer, R.; Strom, D.; Takeda, H.; Takeshita, T.; Tsukamoto, T.; Turner, M. F.; Tysarczyk-Niemeyer, G.; Van den plas, D.; VanDalen, G. J.; Vasseur, G.; Virtue, C. J.; Wagner, A.; Wahl, C.; Ward, C. P.; Ward, D. R.; Waterhouse, J.; Watkins, P. M.; Watson, A. T.; Watson, N. K.; Weber, M.; Weisz, S.; Wells, P. S.; Wermes, N.; Weymann, M.; Wilson, G. W.; Wilson, J. A.; Wingerter, I.; Winterer, V.-H.; Wood, N. C.; Wotton, S.; Wuensch, B.; Wyatt, T. R.; Yaari, R.; Yang, Y.; Yekutieli, G.; Yoshida, T.; Zeuner, W.; Zorn, G. T.; OPAL Collaboration

1990-09-01

The couplings of the Z 0 to charged leptons are studied using measurements of the lepton pair cross sections and forward-backward asymmetries at centre of mass energies near to the mass of the Z 0. The data are consistent with lepton universality. Using a parametrisation of the lepton pair differential cross section which assumes that the Z 0 has only vector and axial couplings to leptons, the charged leptonic partial decay width of the Z 0 is determined to be Г ol+ol- = 83.1±1.9 MeV and the square of the product of the effective axial vector and vector coupling constants of the Z 0 to charged leptons to be ǎ2olvˇ2ol = 0.0039± 0.0083 , in agreement with the standard model. A parametrisation in the form of the improved Born approximation gives effective leptonic axial vector and vector coupling constants ǎ2ol = 0.998±0.024 and vˇ2ol = 0.0044±0.0083 . In the framework of the standard model, the values of the parameters ϱ z and sin 2overlineθw are found to be 0.998±0.024 and 0.233 +0.045-0.012 respectively. Using the relationship in the minimal standard model between ϱ z and sin 2overlineθw, the results sin 2overlineθSMw = 0.233 +0.007-0.006 is obtained. Our previously published measurement of the ratio of the hadronic to the leptonic partial width of the Z 0 is update: Rz = 21.72 +0.71-0.65.

Studies on the coupling transformer to improve the performance of microwave ion source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Misra, Anuraag, E-mail: pandit@vecc.gov.in, E-mail: vspandit12@gmail.com, E-mail: anuraag@vecc.gov.in; Pandit, V. S., E-mail: pandit@vecc.gov.in, E-mail: vspandit12@gmail.com, E-mail: anuraag@vecc.gov.in

A 2.45 GHz microwave ion source has been developed and installed at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre to produce high intensity proton beam. It is operational and has already produced more than 12 mA of proton beam with just 350 W of microwave power. In order to optimize the coupling of microwave power to the plasma, a maximally flat matching transformer has been used. In this paper, we first describe an analytical method to design the matching transformer and then present the results of rigorous simulation performed using ANSYS HFSS code to understand the effect of different parameters on themore » transformed impedance and reflection and transmission coefficients. Based on the simulation results, we have chosen two different coupling transformers which are double ridged waveguides with ridge widths of 24 mm and 48 mm. We have fabricated these transformers and performed experiments to study the influence of these transformers on the coupling of microwave to plasma and extracted beam current from the ion source.« less

European hospital managers' perceptions of patient-centred care.

PubMed

Taylor, Angelina; Groene, Oliver

2015-01-01

The spotlight has recently been placed on managers' responsibility for patient-centred care as a result of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust failings. In previous research, clinicians reported that managers do not have an adequate structured plan for implementing patient-centred care. The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceptions of European hospital management with respect to factors affecting the implementation of a patient-centred approach. In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospital managers (n=10), expert country informants (n=2), patient organisations (n=2) and a user representative (n=1) from around Europe. Participants were purposively and snowball sampled. Interviews were analysed using framework analysis. Most participants felt that current levels of patient-centred care are inadequate, but accounted that there were a number of macro, meso and micro challenges they faced in implementing this approach. These included budget constraints, political and historical factors, the resistance of clinicians and other frontline staff. Organisational culture emerged as a central theme, shaped by these multi-level factors and influencing the way in which patient-centred care was borne out in the hospital. Participants proposed that the needs of patients might be better met through increasing advocacy by patient organisations and greater staff contact with patients. This study is the first of its kind to obtain management views from around Europe. It offers an insight into different models of how patient-centred care is realised by management. It indicates that managers see the value of a patient-centred approach but that they feel restricted by a number of factors at multiple levels.

Developments in the storage of embryos in France and the limitations of the laws of bioethics. Analysis of procedures in 17 storage centres and the destiny of stored embryos.

PubMed

Moutel, Grégoire; Gregg, Edna; Meningaud, Jean Paul; Hervé, Christian

2002-01-01

1985 witnessed the first transfers of frozen embryos resulting in live births in France. Since this time the number of embryos obtained by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has increased each year. In 1999 each IVF attempt obtains, on average, 4.5 embryos that can be successfully implanted. In this paper we consider only those couples who have successfully obtained embryos (either by ICSI or traditional IVF techniques). The aims of the study are: To show how developments in embryo production and conservation have influenced the number of embryos stored. To address the socio-medical and ethical issues raised and to provide practitioners with some thoughts for reflection when consulting with couples based on the study findings To discuss the results of our findings in the light of those ethical questions raised by the imminent revision of the Laws of Bioethics. In the first instance we did a retrospective analysis of quantitative data that 17 storage centres had collected over a period of 5 years. This period was marked by the implementation in 1994 of Laws described as Bioethics' Laws in France. During a second period we conducted a qualitative study regarding the fate of stored embryos. In order to do this, we began an analysis of the "status" of embryos and the decisions of those couples whose embryos were still in storage. For this a questionnaire was used. The number of embryos that remain in storage in the 17 storage centres has increased reaching a total of 17,592 embryos involving 3,888 couples. The results show a consistent and persistent increase in the number of embryos stored before and after 1994. The qualitative study shows that: 51% of couples with embryos in storage can no longer be found, 23.6% request a continuance of storage, 12% would accept donating their embryos to medical research, 9.1% would wish for other couples to take eventual ownership of the embryo in 7.2% of cases the storage centre has can provide no information concerning the continuing of

Resonance Raman spectroscopy of 2H-labelled spheroidenes in petroleum ether and in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centre.

PubMed

Kok, P; Köhler, J; Groenen, E J; Gebhard, R; van der Hoef, I; Lugtenburg, J; Farhoosh, R; Frank, H A

1997-03-01

As a step towards the structural analysis of the carotenoid spheroidene in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centre, we present the resonance Raman spectra of 14-2H, 15-2H, 15'-2H, 14'-2H, 14,15'-2H2 and 15-15'-2H2 spheroidenes in petroleum ether and, except for 14,15'-2H2 spheroidene, in the Rb. sphaeroides R26 reaction center (RC). Analysis of the spectral changes upon isotopic substitution allows a qualitative assignment of most of the vibrational bands to be made. For the all-trans spheroidenes in solution the resonance enhancement of the Raman bands is determined by the participation of carbon carbon stretching modes in the centre of the conjugated chain, the C9 to C15' region. For the RC-bound 15,15'-cis spheroidenes, enhancement is determined by the participation of carbon-carbon stretching modes in the centre of the molecule, the C13 to C13' region. Comparison of the spectra in solution and in the RC reveals evidence for an out-of-plane distortion of the RC-bound spheroidene in the central C14 to C14' region of the carotenoid. The characteristic 1240 cm-1 band in the spectrum of the RC-bound spheroidene has been assigned to a normal mode that contains the coupled C12-C13 and C13'-C12' stretch vibrations.

Promotion in Call Centres: Opportunities and Determinants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorjup, Maria Tatiana; Valverde, Mireia; Ryan, Gerard

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality of jobs in call centres by focusing on the opportunities for promotion in this sector. More specifically, the research questions focus on discovering whether promotion is common practise in the call centre sector and on identifying the factors that affect this.…

Triangles with Given Distances from a Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maloo, Alok K.; Lal, Arbind K.; Singh, Arindama

2002-01-01

There are four Euclidean centres of a triangle--the circumcentre, the centroid, the incentre and the orthocentre. In this article, the authors prove the following: if the centre is the incentre (resp. orthocentre) then there exists a triangle with given distances of its vertices from its incentre (resp. orthocentre). They also consider uniqueness…

Tropical Cyclone Genesis: A Dynamician's Point of View

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouali, Safieddine; Leys, Jos

The paper focuses the route to the maturity of a cyclone as a twist process of the Hadley cell. The approach is qualified by a "dynamician's viewpoint" since the aerologic mechanism of the cyclone genesis is replicated without the classical tools of the meteorological fluid framework. Indeed, we introduce a pure dynamical model of a 2D vertical rotor of an airparcel to emulate the Hadley cell. Twisted by an appropriate feedback to inject geophysical forcing, the simulation displays two stretched solenoid rolls with clockwise and anticlockwise paths representing the Hadley belts wrapping the Earth. When the forcing parameter is higher, computations simulate overlapped whirlwind funnels revealing strong similarities with the structure of cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons described in the atmospheric science literature. We conjecture that ocean-atmosphere interactions separate and convert a "slice" of the Hadley rotor into a fully tropical cyclone.

Professional relationships between general practitioners and pharmacists in health centres.

PubMed Central

Harding, G; Taylor, K M

1990-01-01

The inclusion of pharmacies in health centres has created opportunities for general practitioners to become better acquainted with the potential contribution of pharmacists to health care. A qualitative study has been made to explore the extent to which this potential has been realized. Ten health centres with an integral pharmacy were selected, one from each of the regional health authorities in England which had at least one such health centre. Interviews were conducted with 13 general practitioners and 10 pharmacists working in the health centres. Nine general practitioners working in health centres without pharmacies and 10 community pharmacists were also interviewed. General practitioners' attitudes towards health centre pharmacists appeared to differ markedly from the attitudes of colleagues working in relative isolation from pharmacists. It appears that general practitioners working closely with the pharmacist develop a collaborative approach to health care. PMID:2271280

Is a family-centred initiative a family-centred service? A case of a Conductive Education setting for children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Schenker, R; Parush, S; Rosenbaum, P; Rigbi, A; Yochman, A

2016-11-01

From the moment a child is diagnosed as having cerebral palsy, families have to cope on a daily basis with the multifaceted challenges of life-long disability management. Family-centred service is embraced as a 'best practice' model because of accumulating evidence supporting its positive influence on parents and children's outcomes. Nevertheless, research comparing parent and provider perspectives on family-centred practices of educational service providers in education settings is scarce. The aims of this study were to compare the extent to which parents and conductors experience the service delivery in Tsad Kadima, the Association for Conductive Education in Israel, as being family-centred, as well as comparing parents' perception of different educational settings as being family-centred. Measurements of family-centeredness, the Israeli Measure of Processes of Care for families (MPOC-20) and for service providers (MPOC-SP), were administrated to 38 teacher conductors and 83 families of children with cerebral palsy (aged 1-14), from different conductive educational settings. Parents and conductors perceive Conductive Education service as being highly family centred in most domains, rating respectful and supportive care the highest and providing general information the lowest, thus indicating an area where improvements should be made. Parents perceived the service they receive to be more family-centred than conductor's perception about their own activities. In addition, educational setting (day care, pre-school and school) was found to be associated with parent's scores. The current study, which is the first to examine family-centred service provision in a conductive special education setting, from the perspectives of both parents and conductors, provides significant evidence for high-quality services in these settings. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Is "Object-Centred Neglect" a Homogeneous Entity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gainotti, Guido; Ciaraffa, Francesca

2013-01-01

The nature of object-centred (allocentric) neglect and the possibility of dissociating it from egocentric (subject-centred) forms of neglect are controversial. Originally, allocentric neglect was described by and in patients who reproduced all the elements of a multi-object scene, but left unfinished the left side of one or more of them. More…

UV LED lighting for automated crystal centring

PubMed Central

Chavas, Leonard M. G.; Yamada, Yusuke; Hiraki, Masahiko; Igarashi, Noriyuki; Matsugaki, Naohiro; Wakatsuki, Soichi

2011-01-01

A direct outcome of the exponential growth of macromolecular crystallography is the continuously increasing demand for synchrotron beam time, both from academic and industrial users. As more and more projects entail screening a profusion of sample crystals, fully automated procedures at every level of the experiments are being implemented at all synchrotron facilities. One of the major obstacles to achieving such automation lies in the sample recognition and centring in the X-ray beam. The capacity of UV light to specifically react with aromatic residues present in proteins or with DNA base pairs is at the basis of UV-assisted crystal centring. Although very efficient, a well known side effect of illuminating biological samples with strong UV sources is the damage induced on the irradiated samples. In the present study the effectiveness of a softer UV light for crystal centring by taking advantage of low-power light-emitting diode (LED) sources has been investigated. The use of UV LEDs represents a low-cost solution for crystal centring with high specificity. PMID:21169682

Automatic centring and bonding of lenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krey, Stefan; Heinisch, J.; Dumitrescu, E.

2007-05-01

We present an automatic bonding station which is able to center and bond individual lenses or doublets to a barrel with sub micron centring accuracy. The complete manufacturing cycle includes the glue dispensing and UV curing. During the process the state of centring is continuously controlled by the vision software, and the final result is recorded to a file for process statistics. Simple pass or fail results are displayed to the operator at the end of the process.

Centre vortex removal restores chiral symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trewartha, Daniel; Kamleh, Waseem; Leinweber, Derek B.

2017-12-01

The influence of centre vortices on dynamical chiral symmetry breaking is investigated through the light hadron spectrum on the lattice. Recent studies of the quark propagator and other quantities have provided evidence that centre vortices are the fundamental objects underpinning dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in {SU}(3) gauge theory. For the first time, we use the chiral overlap fermion action to study the low-lying hadron spectrum on lattice ensembles consisting of Monte Carlo, vortex-removed, and vortex-projected gauge fields. We find that gauge field configurations consisting solely of smoothed centre vortices are capable of reproducing all the salient features of the hadron spectrum, including dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. The hadron spectrum on vortex-removed fields shows clear signals of chiral symmetry restoration at light values of the bare quark mass, while at heavy masses the spectrum is consistent with a theory of weakly interacting constituent quarks.

Assessment of ART centres in India: client perspectives.

PubMed

Sogarwal, Ruchi; Bachani, Damodar

2009-05-01

Drug adherence and quality of antiretroviral therapy (ART) services are the keys for the successful ART programme. Hence, an attempt has been made to assess ART centres in India from client perspectives that are receiving services from the centres. Data were gathered through exit interviews with 1366 clients from 27 ART centres that were selected on the basis of drug adherence and client load. Analyses revealed that more than 80 per cent of the clients reported overall satisfaction with the services availed from the centre and 60 per cent reported that the quality of life has improved to a great extent after getting ART. Most of the clients strongly demanded to open ART centre in each district for better access as that will increase drug adherence and eventually control the HIV progression. It has been found that as many as 14% of respondents, ever been on ART, reported non-adherence and 70% of them cited distance and economic factors as the reasons for non-adherence. Study concludes that while majority of the clients were satisfied with ART services, shortage of staff, high level of non-drug adherence, long distances and poor referring system are the weak areas requiring attention.

A Generic Ground Framework for Image Expertise Centres and Small-Sized Production Centres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sellé, A.

2009-05-01

Initiated by the Pleiadas Earth Observation Program, the CNES (French Space Agency) has developed a generic collaborative framework for its image quality centre, highly customisable for any upcoming expertise centre. This collaborative framework has been design to be used by a group of experts or scientists that want to share data and processings and manage interfaces with external entities. Its flexible and scalable architecture complies with the core requirements: defining a user data model with no impact on the software (generic access data), integrating user processings with a GUI builder and built-in APIs, and offering a scalable architecture to fit any preformance requirement and accompany growing projects. The CNES jas given licensing grants for two software companies that will be able to redistribute this framework to any customer.

Psychiatric rehabilitation in community-based day centres: motivation and satisfaction.

PubMed

Eklund, Mona; Tjörnstrand, Carina

2013-11-01

This study investigated attendees' motivation and motives for participation in day centres and their satisfaction with the rehabilitation, while also addressing the influence of day centre orientation (work- or meeting-place orientation), gender and age. Ninety-three Swedish day centre attendees participated in a cross-sectional study and completed questionnaires about motivation, motives, and satisfaction with the rehabilitation. Data were analysed with non-parametric statistics. The participants were highly motivated for going to the day centre and set clear goals for their rehabilitation. Female gender, but not age, was associated with stronger motivation. The strongest motives for going to the day centre were getting structure to the day and socializing. Attendees at work-oriented day centres more often expressed that they went there to get structure to the day and gain social status. Satisfaction with the rehabilitation was high, and the most common wishes for further opportunities concerned earning money and learning new things. The rehabilitation largely seemed to meet the attendees' needs, but the findings indicated that further developments were desired, such as participation in work on the open market and more work-like occupations in the day centre, accompanied by some kind of remuneration.

White-centred retinal haemorrhages (Roth spots).

PubMed

Ling, R; James, B

1998-10-01

Roth spots (white-centred retinal haemorrhages) were classically described as septic emboli lodged in the retina of patients with subacute bacterial endocarditis. Indeed many have considered Roth spots pathognomonic for this condition. More recent histological evidence suggests, however, that they are not foci of bacterial abscess. Instead, they are nonspecific and may be found in many other diseases. A review of the histology and the pathogenesis of these white-centred haemorrhages will be provided, along with the work-up of the differential diagnosis.

Family-centred care delivery

PubMed Central

Mayo-Bruinsma, Liesha; Hogg, William; Taljaard, Monica; Dahrouge, Simone

2013-01-01

Abstract Objective To determine whether models of primary care service delivery differ in their provision of family-centred care (FCC) and to identify practice characteristics associated with FCC. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Primary care practices in Ontario (ie, 35 salaried community health centres, 35 fee-for-service practices, 32 capitation-based health service organizations, and 35 blended remuneration family health networks) that belong to 4 models of primary care service delivery. Participants A total of 137 practices, 363 providers, and 5144 patients. Main outcome measures Measures of FCC in patient and provider surveys were based on the Primary Care Assessment Tool. Statistical analyses were conducted using linear mixed regression models and generalized estimating equations. Results Patient-reported FCC scores were high and did not vary significantly by primary care model. Larger panel size in a practice was associated with lower odds of patients reporting FCC. Provider-reported FCC scores were significantly higher in community health centres than in family health networks (P = .035). A larger number of nurse practitioners and clinical services on-site were both associated with higher FCC scores, while scores decreased as the number of family physicians in a practice increased and if practices were more rural. Conclusion Based on provider and patient reports, primary care reform strategies that encourage larger practices and more patients per family physician might compromise the provision of FCC, while strategies that encourage multidisciplinary practices and a range of services might increase FCC. PMID:24235195

Delineation of Areas Contributing Water to the Dry Brook Public-Supply Well, South Hadley, Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Garabedian, Stephen P.; Stone, Janet Radway

2004-01-01

Areas contributing water to the Dry Brook public-supply well in South Hadley, Massachusetts, were delineated with a numerical ground-water-flow model that is based on geologic and hydrologic information for the confined sand and gravel aquifer pumped by the supply well. The study area is along the Connecticut River in central Massachusetts, about 12 miles north of Springfield, Massachusetts. Geologic units in the study area consist of Mesozoic-aged sedimentary and igneous bedrock, late-Pleistocene glaciolacustrine sediments, and recent alluvial deposits of the Connecticut River flood plain. Dry Brook Hill, immediately south of the supply well, is a large subaqueous lacustrine fan and delta formed during the last glacial retreat by sediment deposition into glacial Lake Hitchcock from a meltwater tunnel that was likely near where the Connecticut River cuts through the Holyoke Range. The sediments that compose the aquifer grade from very coarse sand and gravel along the northern flank of the hill, to medium sands in the body of the hill, and to finer-grained sediments along the southern flank of the hill. The interbedded and overlapping fine-grained lacustrine sediments associated with Dry Brook Hill include varved silt and clay deposits. These fine-grained sediments form a confining bed above the coarse-grained aquifer at the supply well and partially extend under the Connecticut River adjacent to the supply well. Ground-water flow in the aquifer supplying water to Dry Brook well was simulated with the U.S. Geological Survey ground-water-flow modeling code MODFLOW. The Dry Brook aquifer model was calibrated to drawdown data collected from 8 observation wells during an aquifer test conducted by pumping the supply well for 10 days at a rate of 122.2 cubic feet per minute (ft3/min; 914 gallons per minute) and to water levels collected from observation wells across the study area. Generally, the largest hydraulic conductivity values used in the model were in the sand and

Centre vortex removal restores chiral symmetry

DOE PAGES

Trewartha, Daniel; Kamleh, Waseem; Leinweber, Derek B.

2017-11-15

The influence of centre vortices on dynamical chiral symmetry breaking is investigated through the light hadron spectrum on the lattice. Recent studies of the quark propagator and other quantities have provided evidence that centre vortices are the fundamental objects underpinning dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in SU(3) gauge theory. For the first time, we use the chiral overlap fermion action to study the low-lying hadron spectrum on lattice ensembles consisting of Monte Carlo, vortex-removed, and vortex-projected gauge fields. We find that gauge field configurations consisting solely of smoothed centre vortices are capable of reproducing all the salient features of the hadronmore » spectrum, including dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. In conclusion, the hadron spectrum on vortex-removed fields shows clear signals of chiral symmetry restoration at light values of the bare quark mass, while at heavy masses the spectrum is consistent with a theory of weakly-interacting constituent quarks.« less

A zonally symmetric model for the monsoon-Hadley circulation with stochastic convective forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De La Chevrotière, Michèle; Khouider, Boualem

2017-02-01

Idealized models of reduced complexity are important tools to understand key processes underlying a complex system. In climate science in particular, they are important for helping the community improve our ability to predict the effect of climate change on the earth system. Climate models are large computer codes based on the discretization of the fluid dynamics equations on grids of horizontal resolution in the order of 100 km, whereas unresolved processes are handled by subgrid models. For instance, simple models are routinely used to help understand the interactions between small-scale processes due to atmospheric moist convection and large-scale circulation patterns. Here, a zonally symmetric model for the monsoon circulation is presented and solved numerically. The model is based on the Galerkin projection of the primitive equations of atmospheric synoptic dynamics onto the first modes of vertical structure to represent free tropospheric circulation and is coupled to a bulk atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) model. The model carries bulk equations for water vapor in both the free troposphere and the ABL, while the processes of convection and precipitation are represented through a stochastic model for clouds. The model equations are coupled through advective nonlinearities, and the resulting system is not conservative and not necessarily hyperbolic. This makes the design of a numerical method for the solution of this system particularly difficult. Here, we develop a numerical scheme based on the operator time-splitting strategy, which decomposes the system into three pieces: a conservative part and two purely advective parts, each of which is solved iteratively using an appropriate method. The conservative system is solved via a central scheme, which does not require hyperbolicity since it avoids the Riemann problem by design. One of the advective parts is a hyperbolic diagonal matrix, which is easily handled by classical methods for hyperbolic equations, while

Cold chain status at immunisation centres in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Berhane, Y; Demissie, M

2000-09-01

Child immunisation is among the most cost-effective ways of preventing premature child deaths, and the potency of vaccines, crucial for vaccine efficacy, is dependent on effective management of the cold chain at all levels of vaccine handling. To assess the status of the cold chain at peripheral vaccine stores in Ethiopia. Institution based cross-sectional survey in two rural and one urban administrative areas were included in the study. Sixty seven health institutions providing static vaccination services were included in the study but cold chain system was assessed fully in only sixty four. Data were collected by interviewing health workers and by directly observing the cold chain equipment and records using structured forms. Conditions of the cold chain system were described based on 64 of the 67 centres visited, three were excluded because of non-functioning cold chain. Complete temperature record was observed in 37 (57.8%) of the centres. Thermometer was not available in four (6.3%) and thermometer reading was found to be outside the optimal range in another seven (10.9%) centres. Vaccine storage in the refrigerator was not proper in 47 (73.4%) centres. Majority of the centres had neither trained personnel nor budget for maintenance of the cold chain. There is a real danger of vaccines losing their potency at these centres even if they were potent on arrival. Relevant training for those handling the cold chain, improving the maintenance conditions of refrigerators and introduction of cold chain monitoring devises are recommended.

Improved Decadal Climate Prediction in the North Atlantic using EnOI-Assimilated Initial Condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Q.; Xin, X.; Wei, M.; Zhou, W.

2017-12-01

Decadal prediction experiments of Beijing Climate Center climate system model version 1.1(BCC-CSM1.1) participated in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) had poor skill in extratropics of the North Atlantic, the initialization of which was done by relaxing modeled ocean temperature to the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis data. This study aims to improve the prediction skill of this model by using the assimilation technique in the initialization. New ocean data are firstly generated by assimilating the sea surface temperature (SST) of the Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature (HadISST) dataset to the ocean model of BCC-CSM1.1 via Ensemble Optimum Interpolation (EnOI). Then a suite of decadal re-forecasts launched annually over the period 1961-2005 is carried out with simulated ocean temperature restored to the assimilated ocean data. Comparisons between the re-forecasts and previous CMIP5 forecasts show that the re-forecasts are more skillful in mid-to-high latitude SST of the North Atlantic. Improved prediction skill is also found for the Atlantic multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), which is consistent with the better skill of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) predicted by the re-forecasts. We conclude that the EnOI assimilation generates better ocean data than the SODA reanalysis for initializing decadal climate prediction of BCC-CSM1.1 model.

The Role of Science Centres and Planetariums

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lomb, Nick

Science centres planetariums and similar places such as visitor centres and public observatories have an essential role to play in school education. Even in states where astronomy is in the curriculum teachers often have a limited knowledge of the subject. Consequently they are happy to bring their students to a place where they can be instructed by professional astronomy educators. Where astronomy is not on the curriculum the centres provide teachers with the opportunity of using the appeal of astronomy to excite students about science. In this paper we will look at a number of examples of what science centres and planetariums provide to school students. Sydney Observatory is open for school visits throughout each school term. Visits are highly structured making use of all the facilities of the observatory in informing the students and exciting them about astronomy. Facilities available include a new interactive 3-D theatre a very small planetarium modern and historic telescopes an exhibition and a lecture room. A planetarium is an invaluable resource for teaching and stimulating the interest of students. Australian planetariums include ones in Melbourne Canberra and Launceston. Some of their experiences in reaching school audiences will be discussed.

Using drama to improve person-centred dementia care.

PubMed

Kontos, Pia C; Mitchell, Gail J; Mistry, Bhavnita; Ballon, Bruce

2010-06-01

We implemented a 12-week drama-based educational intervention to introduce to dementia practitioners person-centred care that emphasizes the notion of embodied selfhood (defined as non-verbal self-expression). Person-centred dementia care guidelines emphasize the assessment of individual needs, and where appropriate, the use of non-pharmacological interventions before resorting to pharmacological management. However, dementia care is not consistent with these guidelines suggesting conceptual limitations and reliance on passive knowledge translation strategies. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with practitioners (n = 24) in two nursing homes in central Canada were undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the drama-based components of the intervention. Our findings suggest that drama was effective as an educational modality, and helped implement the person-centred approach into practice. Significant practice outcomes included: new awareness that residents' body movements and dispositions can convey meaning; seeking biographical information from families; increased time efficiency; and supporting residents' independence. Our findings make an important contribution to person-centred dementia care by broadening the notion of personhood, and by facilitating implementation using drama. As an enhancement of person-centred care, the support of embodied selfhood may significantly improve residents' quality of life, quality of care, and practitioners' care-giving experience. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Tests for qualitative treatment-by-centre interaction using a 'pushback' procedure.

PubMed

Ciminera, J L; Heyse, J F; Nguyen, H H; Tukey, J W

1993-06-15

In multicentre clinical trials using a common protocol, the centres are usually regarded as being a fixed factor, thus allowing any treatment-by-centre interaction to be omitted from the error term for the effect of treatment. However, we feel it necessary to use the treatment-by-centre interaction as the error term if there is substantial evidence that the interaction with centres is qualitative instead of quantitative. To make allowance for the estimated uncertainties of the centre means, we propose choosing a reference value (for example, the median of the ordered array of centre means) and converting the individual centre results into standardized deviations from the reference value. The deviations are then reordered, and the results 'pushed back' by amounts appropriate for the corresponding order statistics in a sample from the relevant distribution. The pushed-back standardized deviations are then restored to the original scale. The appearance of opposite signs among the destandardized values for the various centres is then taken as 'substantial evidence' of qualitative interaction. Procedures are presented using, in any combination: (i) Gaussian, or Student's t-distribution; (ii) order-statistic medians or outward 90 per cent points of the corresponding order statistic distributions; (iii) pooling or grouping and pooling the internally estimated standard deviations of the centre means. The use of the least conservative combination--Student's t, outward 90 per cent points, grouping and pooling--is recommended.

The oral food desensitization in the Italian allergy centres.

PubMed

Meglio, P; Caminiti, L; Pajno, G B; Dello Iacono, I; Tripodi, S; Verga, M C; Martelli, A

2015-05-01

Attempts aimed at inducing food tolerance through oral food desensitization (OFD) for the treatment of IgE-mediated food allergies are increasing. In Italy, a number of allergy centres offer this procedure. To collect information on how these centres are organized, how patients are selected, the methods used to administer OFD and how adverse reactions are managed. A questionnaire was e-mailed to all the Italian allergy centres offering OFD. The survey shows a high degree of variability between centres. A correct diagnosis of food allergy is crucial for selecting patients for OFD. In the Italian allergy centres, oral food challenges are mostly open label (84%), but in 16% of cases they are single-blind (8%) or double-blind (8%). A high proportion of allergy centres (83%) offer OFD to children presenting forms of anaphylaxis triggered by traces--or very low doses--of food allergen. The majority of allergy centres (76%) enroll patients over 3 years of age, with 44% enrolling patients above the age of 5. Not-controlled asthma, unreliability of parents in the management of OFD and/or risk of adverse events, are the main reasons for exclusion from the procedure. Although OFD may sometimes be successful and may be considered a valid alternative to an elimination diet, further randomized controlled trials are needed, in order to clarify some controversial points, such as the characteristics of the child undergoing OFD, and the methods of food preparation and administration. Moreover, further studies should further investigate OFD safety, efficacy and costs.

Optimizing Data Centre Energy and Environmental Costs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aikema, David Hendrik

Data centres use an estimated 2% of US electrical power which accounts for much of their total cost of ownership. This consumption continues to grow, further straining power grids attempting to integrate more renewable energy. This dissertation focuses on assessing and reducing data centre environmental and financial costs. Emissions of projects undertaken to lower the data centre environmental footprints can be assessed and the emission reduction projects compared using an ISO-14064-2-compliant greenhouse gas reduction protocol outlined herein. I was closely involved with the development of the protocol. Full lifecycle analysis and verifying that projects exceed business-as-usual expectations are addressed, and a test project is described. Consuming power when it is low cost or when renewable energy is available can be used to reduce the financial and environmental costs of computing. Adaptation based on the power price showed 10--50% potential savings in typical cases, and local renewable energy use could be increased by 10--80%. Allowing a fraction of high-priority tasks to proceed unimpeded still allows significant savings. Power grid operators use mechanisms called ancillary services to address variation and system failures, paying organizations to alter power consumption on request. By bidding to offer these services, data centres may be able to lower their energy costs while reducing their environmental impact. If providing contingency reserves which require only infrequent action, savings of up to 12% were seen in simulations. Greater power cost savings are possible for those ceding more control to the power grid operator. Coordinating multiple data centres adds overhead, and altering at which data centre requests are processed based on changes in the financial or environmental costs of power is likely to increase this overhead. Tests of virtual machine migrations showed that in some cases there was no visible increase in power use while in others power use

Assuring optimal trauma care: the role of trauma centre accreditation

PubMed Central

Simons, Richard; Kirkpatrick, Andrew

2002-01-01

Optimal care of the injured patient requires the delivery of appropriate, definitive care shortly after injury. Over the last 30 to 40 years, civilian trauma systems and trauma centres have been developed in the United States based on experience gained in military conflicts, particularly in Korea and Vietnam. A similar process is evolving in Canada. National trauma committees in the US and Canada have defined optimal resources to meet the goal of rapid, appropriate care in trauma centres. They have introduced programs (verification or accreditation) to externally audit trauma centre performance based on these guidelines. It is generally accepted that implementing trauma systems results in decreased preventable death and improved survival after trauma. What is less clear is the degree to which each facet of trauma system development contributes to this improvement. The relative importance of national performance guidelines and trauma centre audit as integral steps toward improved outcomes following injury are reviewed. Current Trauma Association of Canada guidelines for trauma centres are presented and the process of trauma centre accreditation is discussed. PMID:12174987

White-centred retinal haemorrhages (Roth spots).

PubMed Central

Ling, R.; James, B.

1998-01-01

Roth spots (white-centred retinal haemorrhages) were classically described as septic emboli lodged in the retina of patients with subacute bacterial endocarditis. Indeed many have considered Roth spots pathognomonic for this condition. More recent histological evidence suggests, however, that they are not foci of bacterial abscess. Instead, they are nonspecific and may be found in many other diseases. A review of the histology and the pathogenesis of these white-centred haemorrhages will be provided, along with the work-up of the differential diagnosis. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 PMID:10211348

Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory as Cultural Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mickaelian, A. M.; Farmanyan, S. V.

2016-12-01

NAS RA V. Ambartsumian Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is presented as a cultural centre for Armenia and the Armenian nation in general. Besides being scientific and educational centre, the Observatory is famous for its unique architectural ensemble, rich botanical garden and world of birds, as well as it is one of the most frequently visited sightseeing of Armenia. In recent years, the Observatory has also taken the initiative of the coordination of the Cultural Astronomy in Armenia and in this field, unites the astronomers, historians, archaeologists, ethnographers, culturologists, literary critics, linguists, art historians and other experts.

Design Considerations for an Intensive Autism Treatment Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deochand, Neil; Conway, Alissa A.; Fuqua, R. Wayne

2015-01-01

Individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) who display severe and challenging behaviour sometimes require centre-based intensive applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy to meet their health, safety and educational needs. Unfortunately, despite the need for centre-based treatment, there is a paucity of empirical research on building and…

A Survey on Evaluation Practices in Teaching and Learning Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolomitro, Klodiana; Anstey, Lauren M.

2017-01-01

There is general consensus that teaching and learning centres have a positive impact on promoting and supporting a culture that values teaching and learning, yet there is limited evidence on how centres evaluate their work. For this purpose, a survey was developed and administered to the directors of 88 Canadian centres; 46 of which completed the…

Six essential roles of health promotion research centres: the Atlantic Canada experience

PubMed Central

Langille, Lynn L.; Crowell, Sandra J.; Lyons, Renée F.

2009-01-01

SUMMARY Over the past 20 years, the federal government and universities across Canada have directed resources towards the development of university-based health promotion research centres. Researchers at health promotion research centres in Canada have produced peer-reviewed papers and policy documents based on their work, but no publications have emerged that focus on the specific roles of the health promotion research centres themselves. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework, based on an in-depth examination of one centre, to help identify the unique roles of health promotion research centres and to clarify the value they add to promoting health and advancing university goals. Considering the shifting federal discourse on health promotion over time and the vulnerability of social and health sciences to changes in research funding priorities, health promotion research centres in Canada and elsewhere may need to articulate their unique roles and contributions in order to maintain a critical focus on health promotion research. The authors briefly describe the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre (AHPRC), propose a framework that illustrates six essential roles of health promotion research centres and describe the policy contexts and challenges of health promotion research centres. The analysis of research and knowledge translation activities over 15 years at AHPRC sheds light on the roles that health promotion research centres play in applied research. The conclusion raises questions regarding the value of university-based research centres and challenges to their sustainability. PMID:19171668

Clarifying the role of mean centring in multicollinearity of interaction effects.

PubMed

Shieh, Gwowen

2011-11-01

Moderated multiple regression (MMR) is frequently employed to analyse interaction effects between continuous predictor variables. The procedure of mean centring is commonly recommended to mitigate the potential threat of multicollinearity between predictor variables and the constructed cross-product term. Also, centring does typically provide more straightforward interpretation of the lower-order terms. This paper attempts to clarify two methodological issues of potential confusion. First, the positive and negative effects of mean centring on multicollinearity diagnostics are explored. It is illustrated that the mean centring method is, depending on the characteristics of the data, capable of either increasing or decreasing various measures of multicollinearity. Second, the exact reason why mean centring does not affect the detection of interaction effects is given. The explication shows the symmetrical influence of mean centring on the corrected sum of squares and variance inflation factor of the product variable while maintaining the equivalence between the two residual sums of squares for the regression of the product term on the two predictor variables. Thus the resulting test statistic remains unchanged regardless of the obvious modification of multicollinearity with mean centring. These findings provide a clear understanding and demonstration on the diverse impact of mean centring in MMR applications. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Development and piloting the Woman Centred Care Scale (WCCS).

PubMed

Brady, Susannah; Bogossian, Fiona; Gibbons, Kristen

2017-06-01

In midwifery we espouse a woman centred care approach to practice, yet in midwifery education no valid instrument exists with which to measure the performance of these behaviours in midwifery students. To develop and validate an instrument to measure woman centred care behaviours in midwifery students. We identified four core concepts; woman's sphere, holism, self-determination and the shared power relationship. We mapped 18 individual descriptive care behaviours (from the Australian National Competency Standards for the Midwife) to these concepts to create an instrument to articulate and measure care behaviours that are specifically woman centred. Review by expert midwifery clinicians ensured face, content and construct validity of the scale and predictive validity and reliability were tested in a simulated learning environment. Midwifery students were video recorded performing a clinical skill and the videos were reviewed and rated by two expert clinicians who assessed the woman centred care behaviours demonstrated by the students (n=69). Test and re-test reliability of the instrument was high for each of the individual raters (Kappa 0.946 and 0.849 respectively p<0.001). However, when raters were compared there were differences between their scores suggesting variation in their expectations of woman centred care behaviours (Kappa 0.470, p<0.001). Midwifery students who had repeated exposures to higher levels of simulation fidelity demonstrated higher levels of woman centred care behaviours. The WCCS has implications for education and the wider midwifery profession in recognising and maintaining practice consistent with the underlying philosophy of woman centred care. Copyright © 2016 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementing Responsibility Centre Budgeting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vonasek, Joseph

2011-01-01

Recently, institutes of higher education (universities) have shown a renewed interest in organisational structures and operating methodologies that generate productivity and innovation; responsibility centre budgeting (RCB) is one such process. This paper describes the underlying principles constituting RCB, its origin and structural elements, and…

Vocational Centres in Fiji Schools: A Needs Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBeath, Clare

2005-01-01

A needs analysis was conducted into the issues facing the Technical and Vocational Education sector in Fiji. Vocational Centre teachers, Principals and an Education Officer were interviewed, and their responses analysed. The survey pointed to the difficulties currently experienced by the Vocational Centres in the face of poor facilities and…

Recognizing a Centre of Excellence in Ontario's Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Litwin, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

The term "Centre of Excellence" is increasingly used by Ontario's colleges with the expectation of portraying a superior level of proficiency, expertise, or investment in a particular academic discipline or program cluster. This paper proposes that the term Centre of Excellence should have a clearer definition so that when one of…

Short and long-term effectiveness of couple counselling: a study protocol

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Healthy couple relationships are fundamental to a healthy society, whereas relationship breakdown and discord are linked to a wide range of negative health and wellbeing outcomes. Two types of relationship services (couple counselling and relationship education) have demonstrated efficacy in many controlled studies but evidence of the effectiveness of community-based relationship services has lagged behind. This study protocol describes an effectiveness evaluation of the two types of community-based relationship services. The aims of the Evaluation of Couple Counselling study are to: map the profiles of clients seeking agency-based couple counselling and relationship enhancement programs in terms of socio-demographic, relationship, health, and health service use indicators; to determine 3 and 12-month outcomes for relationship satisfaction, commitment, and depression; and determine relative contributions of client and therapy factors to outcomes. Methods/Design A quasi-experimental pre-post-post evaluation design is used to assess outcomes for couples presenting for the two types of community-based relationship services. The longitudinal design involves a pre-treatment survey and two follow-up surveys at 3- and 12-months post-intervention. The study is set in eight Relationships Australia Victoria centres, across metropolitan, outer suburbs, and regional/rural sites. Relationships Australia, a non-government organisation, is the largest provider of couple counselling and relationship services in Australia. The key outcomes are couple satisfaction, relationship commitment, and depression measured by the CESD-10. Multi-level modelling will be used to account for the dyadic nature of couple data. Discussion The study protocol describes the first large scale investigation of the effectiveness of two types of relationship services to be conducted in Australia. Its significance lies in providing more detailed profiles of couples who seek relationship services

Contraceptive practices adopted by women attending an urban health centre.

PubMed

Prateek, S S; Saurabh, R S

2012-12-01

India was the first country in world to launch - The National Family Welfare Programme in 1951 but even today the couple protection rate (CPR) is still not achieved as desired. To determine extent of awareness regarding contraception among married women. To estimate proportion of couples using contraceptive methods, identify reasons for their adoption & non adoption and to assess unmet needs for contraception. A cross sectional descriptive study of four months duration was conducted among married women in reproductive age group (15 - 49 years) attending general out-patient department in Urban Health Centre (UHC) employing universal sampling method. Participants not willing to respond and pregnant women were excluded. Total of 180 women were selected as study participants. Every woman was interviewed face to face with pre-tested questionnaire after taking informed consent. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 16. 94 (52.2%) were in age group of 20 - 24 years. 52.4% of women were aware about contraceptive practices, of which only 32.2% of subjects were using contraceptive methods. Out of these subjects, 89.66% used temporary methods and 10.34% used permanent methods. Cu-T (41.37%) was most preferred method. 93 subjects (51.6%) had unmet need for contraception. Religion, education status and age at marriage were significantly associated with contraceptive usage. The results suggest a significant Knowledge - Application Gap with regards to contraceptives knowledge and their actual usage in study participants. Almost fifty percent of the subjects had unmet need for contraception. This shows the need for more intense awareness campaigns for promoting contraceptive usage.

The Operational Role of the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre for the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on-board the International Space Station.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller, C.; Moreau, D., Sr.; Pandey, P. K.; Crosby, N. B.

2014-12-01

The Belgian User Support and Operations Centre (B.USOC) is an operational centre managing technological and scientific payloads on the International Space Station (ISS). B.USOC is the Facility Responsible Centre (FRC) for the European Space Agency's (ESA) Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) payload and also manages the Scientific Mission Centre of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) PICARD satellite that monitors solar activity, among various other space missions. In this respect, B.USOC is ideally positioned to manage possible synergies between ASIM, the satellite TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of RAdiation from lightNIng and Sprites), other space missions and ground-based networks. The ASIM mission (Neubert, 2009) consists of a package of two nadir instruments: one for the visible spectrum and another for X-ray and gamma-ray frequencies. In the normal operating mode "trigger mode" both instruments continuously measure, but, do not record data below certain thresholds. Another mode is a "timed mode", where, during a certain time the observations are recorded even in the absence of triggers. The "timed mode" demands a lot of flexibility from both scientific teams and B.USOC, as, ASIM's main targets of investigation (sprites and elves) are related to intense thunderstorms and thus, require reliable meteorological forecasts in the entire range of ISS latitudes. Moreover, ASIM is sensitive to a large number of phenomena of which most have a direct relationship with solar activity and therefore would probably need support from the ESA SSA (Space Situational Awareness) Space Weather Coordination Centre (SSCC) that shares the same campus with B.USOC. Local cooperation between the two centres, together with other space payloads such as TARANIS and ground-based networks will greatly optimize ASIM payload operations as well as scientific return. Neubert, T., and the ASIM Team, ASIM - an Instrument Suite for the International Space Station, Corte Workshop

Determining requirements for patient-centred care: a participatory concept mapping study.

PubMed

Ogden, Kathryn; Barr, Jennifer; Greenfield, David

2017-11-28

Recognition of a need for patient-centred care is not new, however making patient-centred care a reality remains a challenge to organisations. We need empirical studies to extend current understandings, create new representations of the complexity of patient-centred care, and guide collective action toward patient-centred health care. To achieve these ends, the research aim was to empirically determine what organisational actions are required for patient-centred care to be achieved. We used an established participatory concept mapping methodology. Cross-sector stakeholders contributed to the development of statements for patient-centred care requirements, sorting statements into groupings according to similarity, and rating each statement according to importance, feasibility, and achievement. The resultant data were analysed to produce a visual concept map representing participants' conceptualisation of patient-centred care requirements. Analysis included the development of a similarity matrix, multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, selection of the number of clusters and their labels, identifying overarching domains and quantitative representation of rating data. The outcome was the development of a conceptual map for the Requirements of Patient-Centred Care Systems (ROPCCS). ROPCCS incorporates 123 statements sorted into 13 clusters. Cluster labels were: shared responsibility for personalised health literacy; patient provider dynamic for care partnership; collaboration; shared power and responsibility; resources for coordination of care; recognition of humanity - skills and attributes; knowing and valuing the patient; relationship building; system review evaluation and new models; commitment to supportive structures and processes; elements to facilitate change; professional identity and capability development; and explicit education and learning. The clusters were grouped into three overarching domains, representing a cross-sectoral approach

Paediatric ECMO at low-volume paediatric cardiac centres in the Nordic countries.

PubMed

Veien, M; Lindberg, L; Tynkkynen, P; Ravn, H B

2015-03-01

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving resource-intensive technology for patients with respiratory and/or circulatory failure. We aimed to evaluate outcome data from three Nordic paediatric centres comparing with data from the International Registry of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) and selected high-volume single-centre studies. One-hundred nineteen patients < 19 years from 2002 to 2012 were enrolled. Data on demographics and outcome were collected using a standardised registration form. Outcome data were compared with the ELSO registry and high-volume single-centre studies. Demographics, indications and diagnosis were similar to the ELSO register. Survival after ECMO was similar to outcome data from the ELSO register, apart from paediatric cardiac ECMO, where a significantly better survival to discharge was seen in the Nordic centres (68% vs. 49%; P = 0.03). Comparison with high-volume centres in the period after 2005 demonstrated a significantly better survival after cardiac ECMO in a single high-volume centre study, whereas four studies had significantly lower survival after cardiac ECMO. No significant difference was seen in children receiving respiratory ECMO in the Nordic centres and high-volume centres. Survival after ECMO in three low-volume Nordic centres demonstrated comparable outcome data with ELSO data and data from high-volume centres. We believe regular quality assurance surveys, as the present study, should be performed in order to maintain excellent therapy within the individual ECMO centres. © 2015 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Low-Income Parents' Adult Interactions at Childcare Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Jeanne L.; Martin, Anne; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2017-01-01

Little is known about the extent and nature of low-income parents' interactions with other parents and staff at childcare centres, despite the potential for these interactions to provide emotional, informational, and instrumental support. This study interviewed 51 parents at three childcare centres in low-income neighbourhoods in New York City.…

Investigating Teachers' Views of Student-Centred Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seng, Ernest Lim Kok

2014-01-01

Conventional learning is based on low levels of students' participation where students are rarely expected to ask questions or to challenge the theories of the academic. A paradigm shift in curriculum has resulted in implementing student-centred learning (SCL) approach, putting students as the centre of the learning process. This mode of…

Depression, pregnancy-related anxiety and parental-antenatal attachment in couples using preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

PubMed

Winter, C; Van Acker, F; Bonduelle, M; Van Berkel, K; Belva, F; Liebaers, I; Nekkebroeck, J

2016-06-01

analyses, taking into account covariation between measurements and within couples. Several perinatal covariates as well as social desirability, coping and adult attachment style were controlled for. All three conception groups had similar scores for depression during pregnancy and beyond. Also, pregnancy-related anxiety scales did not differ among the three groups. All groups also followed a similar trajectory in time regarding their scores for anxiety, depression and parental-antenatal attachment. ART groups did not give more socially desirable answers than SC controls. The subsequent moderators: coping and adult attachment style did not add any relevant information. No interaction effects occurred between gender and conception groups. The participants were Caucasian, Dutch-speaking couples, with medium to high socio-economic status, from a single centre. Our data should be replicated by multicultural and multicentre studies. Furthermore, the inclusion of an additional control group of couples who did not opt for PGD but for prenatal diagnosis may point to the most beneficial strategy for the couple. PGD parents invest a similar amount of time and emotion in their future children compared with controls. This implies that successful PGD treatment makes an important psychological contribution towards the well-being of couples given their complex hereditary and family backgrounds. This research project was funded by grants from the internal research council of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (OZR), the Flemish Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) and the Wetenschappelijk Fonds Willy Gepts (WGFG). UZ Brussel and the Centre for Medical Genetics have received several educational grants for organizing the data collection, from IBSA, Ferring, Organon, Shering-Plough, Merck and Merck Belgium. M.B. has received consultancy and speaker's fees from Organon, Serono Symposia and Merck. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human

Centre-related variability in hospital admissions of patients with spondyloarthritis.

PubMed

Andrés, Mariano; Sivera, Francisca; Pérez-Vicente, Sabina; Carmona, Loreto; Vela, Paloma

2016-09-01

The aim of this study was to explore the variability in hospital admissions of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Spain, and the centre factors that may influence that variability. Descriptive cross-sectional study, part of the emAR II study, performed in Spain (2009-2010). Health records of patients with a diagnosis of SpA and at least one visit to the rheumatology units within the previous 2 years were reviewed. Variables related to hospital admissions, to the SpA, and to the patient and centre were collected. A multilevel logistic regression analysis of random intercept with non-random slopes was performed to assess variability between centres. From 45 centres, 1168 patients' health records were reviewed. Main SpA forms were ankylosing spondylitis (55.2 %) and psoriatic arthritis (22.2 %). A total of 248 admissions were registered for 196 patients (19.2 %, n = 1020). An adjusted variability of 17.6 % in hospitalizations between centres was noted. The following hospital-related factors showed a significant association with admissions: the total number of admissions of the centre, the existence of electronic admission, and the availability of ultrasound in rheumatology. However, these factors only explained 42.9 % of the inter-centre variability. The risk of a patient with SpA of being admitted could double (median OR 2.09), depending on the hospital where the patient was being managed. Hospital admissions of patients with SpA varied between hospitals due to centre characteristics. Further studies are needed to ascertain which specific factors may be causing the variation, as studied variables explained less than half of the variability.

Colour centre recovery in yttria-stabilised zirconia: photo-induced versus thermal processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costantini, Jean-Marc; Touati, Nadia; Binet, Laurent; Lelong, Gérald; Guillaumet, Maxime; Beuneu, François

2018-05-01

The photo-annealing of colour centres in yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) was studied by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy upon UV-ray or laser light illumination, and compared to thermal annealing. Stable hole centres (HCs) were produced in as-grown YSZ single crystals by UV-ray irradiation at room temperature (RT). The HCs produced by 200-MeV Au ion irradiation, as well as the F+-type centres (? centres involving oxygen vacancies) were left unchanged upon UV illumination. In contrast, a significant photo-annealing of the latter point defects was achieved in 1.4-MeV electron-irradiated YSZ by 553-nm laser light irradiation at RT. Almost complete photo-bleaching was achieved by laser irradiation inside the absorption band of ? centres centred at a wavelength 550 nm. Thermal annealing of these colour centres was also followed by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy showing full bleaching at 523 K. Colour-centre evolutions by photo-induced and thermally activated processes are discussed on the basis of charge exchange processes between point defects.

Science Centres: A Resource for School and Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilo, Miranda; Mantero, Alfonso; Marasco, Antonella

2011-01-01

We present a science centre established in Genoa on an agreement between Municipality of Genoa and Department of Physics of University of Genoa. The aim is to offer children, young people and community an opportunity to approach science in a playful way. The centre staffs guide the visitors through the exhibits, attracting their interests towards…

From serenity to halcyon birth centre.

PubMed

Gutteridge, Kathryn

2013-01-01

This article follows the journey of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust quest for improving normal birth outcomes for a complex and diverse population. The opportunities that led to commissioning a colocated and freestanding birth centre are explored and how the design was influenced by less clinical beliefs about birth. Through the story of both birth centre developments, Kathryn Gutteridge shows the changes that have been seen in both clinical outcomes and families'comments. From a failing maternity service to a beacon of light where midwifery care and a belief that 'your birth in our home' really matters.

On the relationship between the early spring Indian Ocean's sea surface temperature (SST) and the Tibetan Plateau atmospheric heat source in summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Chenxu; Zhang, Yuanzhi; Cheng, Qiuming; Li, Yu; Jiang, Tingchen; San Liang, X.

2018-05-01

In this study, we evaluated the effects of springtime Indian Ocean's sea surface temperature (SST) on the Tibetan Plateau's role as atmospheric heat source (AHS) in summer. The SST data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature data set (HadISST) and the reanalysis data of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for 33 years (from 1979 to 2011) were used to analyze the relationship between the Indian Ocean SST and the Tibetan Plateau's AHS in summer, using the approaches that include correlation analysis, and lead-lag analysis. Our results show that some certain strong oceanic SSTs affect the summer plateau heat, specially finding that the early spring SSTs of the Indian Ocean significantly affect the plateau's ability to serve as a heat source in summer. Moreover, the anomalous atmospheric circulation and transport of water vapor are related to the Plateau heat variation.

Simultaneity of centres in ℤ q -equivariant systems.

PubMed

Giné, Jaume; Llibre, Jaume; Valls, Claudia

2018-05-01

We study the simultaneous existence of centres for two families of planar Z q -equivariant systems. First, we give a short review about Z q -equivariant systems. Next, we present the necessary and sufficient conditions for the simultaneous existence of centres for a Z 2 -equivariant cubic system and for a Z 2 -equivariant quintic system.

Different Images of Science at Nordic Science Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidsson, Eva; Jakobsson, Anders

2007-01-01

Science centres aim to present science in ways that will attract visitors and enhance public interest in, and knowledge of, science. But what images and different aspects of science are visitors confronted with at Nordic science centres? This study aims to explore the different aspects of science that are displayed and the ways in which these…

Cost-effectiveness of planned birth in a birth centre compared with alternative planned places of birth: results of the Dutch Birth Centre study

PubMed Central

Hermus, Marieke, MAA; Boesveld, Inge, IC; Franx, Arie; van der Pal-de Bruin, Karin, KM; Steegers, Eric, EAP; van den Akker-van Marle, EIske, ME

2017-01-01

Objectives To estimate the cost-effectiveness of a planned birth in a birth centre compared with alternative planned places of birth for low-risk women. In addition, a distinction has been made between different types of locations and integration profiles of birth centres. Design Economic evaluation based on a prospective cohort study. Setting 21 Dutch birth centres, 46 hospital locations where midwife-led birth was possible and 110 midwifery practices where home birth was possible. Participants 3455 low-risk women under the care of a community midwife at the start of labour in the Netherlands within the study period 1 July 2013 to 31 December 2013. Main outcome measures Costs and health outcomes of birth for different planned places of birth. Healthcare costs were measured from start of labour until 7 days after birth. The health outcomes were assessed by the Optimality Index-NL2015 (OI) and a composite adverse outcomes score. Results The total adjusted mean costs for births planned in a birth centre, in a hospital and at home under the care of a community midwife were €3327, €3330 and €2998, respectively. There was no difference between the score on the OI for women who planned to give birth in a birth centre and that of women who planned to give birth in a hospital. Women who planned to give birth at home had better outcomes on the OI (higher score on the OI). Conclusions We found no differences in costs and health outcomes for low-risk women under the care of a community midwife with a planned birth in a birth centre and in a hospital. For nulliparous and multiparous low-risk women, planned birth at home was the most cost-effective option compared with planned birth in a birth centre. PMID:28893750

International Seismological Centre

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spall, H.; Hughes, A.

1979-01-01

The International Seismological Centre had its origins when the British seismologist Professor John Milne returned to England from Japan in 1895 to retire at Shide on the Isle of Eight. In cooperation with the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Milne had set up a number of seismographic stations around the world and, while Tokyo, had published a Catalogue of 8,33 Earthquakes Recorded in Japan, 1885-1892. 

F-actin mechanics control spindle centring in the mouse zygote

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaigne, Agathe; Campillo, Clément; Voituriez, Raphaël; Gov, Nir S.; Sykes, Cécile; Verlhac, Marie-Hélène; Terret, Marie-Emilie

2016-01-01

Mitotic spindle position relies on interactions between astral microtubules nucleated by centrosomes and a rigid cortex. Some cells, such as mouse oocytes, do not possess centrosomes and astral microtubules. These cells rely only on actin and on a soft cortex to position their spindle off-centre and undergo asymmetric divisions. While the first mouse embryonic division also occurs in the absence of centrosomes, it is symmetric and not much is known on how the spindle is positioned at the exact cell centre. Using interdisciplinary approaches, we demonstrate that zygotic spindle positioning follows a three-step process: (1) coarse centring of pronuclei relying on the dynamics of an F-actin/Myosin-Vb meshwork; (2) fine centring of the metaphase plate depending on a high cortical tension; (3) passive maintenance at the cell centre. Altogether, we show that F-actin-dependent mechanics operate the switch between asymmetric to symmetric division required at the oocyte to embryo transition.

Sustaining the Leaders of Children's Centres: The Role of Leadership Mentoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

John, Karen

2008-01-01

Leadership mentoring is a central component of the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL), which is designed to develop robust, creative and courageous children's centre leaders. Mentoring provides a safe, supportive and confidential space in which leaders can discuss the challenges of leading their centres.…

27. PLAN OF STRINGERS TO BE REPLACED (with 'Present Stringers' ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

27. PLAN OF STRINGERS TO BE REPLACED (with 'Present Stringers' written over the word 'stringers' in the original) SOUTH HADLEY FALLS BRIDGE, HOLYOKE, MASS. Scale 11/2' = 1' 1/1/23 P.E. Bond City Engr. - Holyoke Bridge, Spanning Connecticut River, between Holyoke & South Hadley Falls, Holyoke, Hampden County, MA

Manipulation of the Phase-Amplitude Coupling Factor in Quantum Nanostructure Based Devices for On-Chip Chirp Compensation and Low-Cost Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-17

Compensation and Low -Cost Applications Frederic Grillot CTRE NAT DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE 74, RUE DE PARIS CENTRE AFFAIRES OBERTHUR RENNES, 35000...of Scientific Research European Office of Aerospace Research and Development Unit 4515, APO AE 09421-4515 Distribution Statement A: Approved for...Amplitude Coupling Factor in Quantum Nanostructure Based Devices for On-Chip Chirp Compensation and Low -Cost Applications 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

Stakeholder perceptions of a nurse led walk-in centre.

PubMed

Parker, Rhian M; Desborough, Jane L; Forrest, Laura E

2012-11-05

As many countries face primary care medical workforce shortages and find it difficult to provide timely and affordable care they seek to find new ways of delivering first point of contact health care through developing new service models. In common with other areas of rural and regional Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is currently experiencing a general practitioner (GP) workforce shortage which impacts significantly on the ability of patients to access GP led primary care services. The introduction of a nurse led primary care Walk-in Centre in the ACT aimed to fulfill an unmet health care need in the community and meet projected demand for health care services as well as relieve pressure on the hospital system. Stakeholders have the potential to influence health service planning and policy, to advise on the potential of services to meet population health needs and to assess how acceptable health service innovation is to key stakeholder groups. This study aimed to ascertain the views of key stakeholders about the Walk-in Centre. Stakeholders were purposively selected through the identification of individuals and organisations which had organisational or professional contact with the Walk-in Centre. Semi structured interviews around key themes were conducted with seventeen stakeholders. Stakeholders were generally supportive of the Walk-in Centre but identified key areas which they considered needed to be addressed. These included the service's systems, full utilisation of the nurse practitioner role and adequate education and training. It was also suggested that a doctor could be available to the Centre as a source of referral for patients who fall outside the nurses' scope of practice. The location of the Centre was seen to impact on patient flows to the Emergency Department. Nurse led Walk-in Centres are one response to addressing primary health care medical workforce shortages. Whilst some stakeholders have reservations about the model others

Coupled modelling of tumour angiogenesis, tumour growth and blood perfusion.

PubMed

Cai, Yan; Xu, Shixiong; Wu, Jie; Long, Quan

2011-06-21

We propose a mathematical modelling system to investigate the dynamic process of tumour cell proliferation, death and tumour angiogenesis by fully coupling the vessel growth, tumour growth and blood perfusion. Tumour growth and angiogenesis are coupled by the chemical microenvironment and the cell-matrix interaction. The haemodynamic calculation is carried out on the updated vasculature. The domains of intravascular, transcapillary and interstitial fluid flow were coupled in the model to provide a comprehensive solution of blood perfusion variables. An estimation of vessel collapse is made according to the wall shear stress criterion to provide feedback on vasculature remodelling. The simulation can show the process of tumour angiogenesis and the spatial distribution of tumour cells for periods of up to 24 days. It can show the major features of tumour and tumour microvasculature during the period such as the formation of a large necrotic core in the tumour centre with few functional vessels passing through, and a well circulated tumour periphery regions in which the microvascular density is high and associated with more aggressive proliferating cells of the growing tumour which are all consistent with physiological observations. The study also demonstrated that the simulation results are not dependent on the initial tumour and networks, which further confirms the application of the coupled model feedback mechanisms. The model enables us to examine the interactions between angiogenesis and tumour growth, and to study the dynamic response of a solid tumour to the changes in the microenvironment. This simulation framework can be a foundation for further applications such as drug delivery and anti-angiogenic therapies. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reframing the focus from a family-centred to a child-centred care approach for children's healthcare.

PubMed

Coyne, Imelda; Hallström, Inger; Söderbäck, Maja

2016-05-01

In this article, we argue for a conceptual move from family-centred care (FCC) to a child-centred care approach and the implications for clinical nursing practice. Firstly, we argue that the parents and professional dominance constructs an asymmetric relationship towards the child, which may take away the focus from the child; Secondly, we need to renew efforts to promote the fundamental principles of protection, promotion and participation rights for children and young people according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declaration and thirdly, we need to strengthen the child's perspective and to view the child as an agent representing own experiences and wishes to be respected and negotiated. © The Author(s) 2016.

The structural requirements for immunoglobulin aggregates to localize in germinal centres.

PubMed Central

Embling, P H; Evans, H; Guttierez, C; Holborow, E J; Johns, P; Johnson, P M; Papamichail, M; Stanworth, D R

1978-01-01

The capacity of non-heat-aggregated monoclonal human immunoglobulins of different classes, to localize in murine splenic germinal centres within 24 h of intravenous injection has been investigated. It has been shown that at least trimerization of polyclonal IgG must occur before any germinal centre trapping is manifest. Studies of complement fixation by these IgG preparations in vivo, together with studies of the germinal centre trapping of various monoclonal immunoglobulins, have indicated that the sole structural requirement for germinal centre localization of immunoglobulin aggregates is the ability to fix complement. Results suggest that immunoglobulin aggregates are transported to germinal centres via membrane C3 receptors of mobile cells, and then are released with loss of complement to become fixed to dendritic macrophages by a separate mechanism. PMID:363602

Mathematics in Student-­Centred Inquiry Learning: Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calder, Nigel

2013-01-01

This paper examines how mathematical understandings might be facilitated through student-centred inquiry. Data is drawn from a research project on student-centred inquiry learning that situated mathematics within authentic problem-solving contexts and involved students in a collaboratively constructed curriculum. A contemporary interpretive frame…

Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory as Cultural Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mickaelian, A. M.; Farmanyan, S. V.

2017-07-01

NAS RA V. Ambartsumian Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory is presented as a cultural centre for Armenia and the Armenian nation in general. Besides being scientific and educational centre, the Observatory is famous for its unique architectural ensemble, rich botanical garden and world of birds, as well as it is one of the most frequently visited sightseeing of Armenia. In recent years, the Observatory has also taken the initiative of the coordination of the Cultural Astronomy in Armenia and in this field, unites the astronomers, historians, archaeologists, ethnographers, culturologists, literary critics, linguists, art historians and other experts. Keywords: Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, architecture, botanic garden, tourism, Cultural Astronomy.

Thermal Properties of the ESR Centres in Speleothem Samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulusoy, Ü.; Anbar, Gül

2007-04-01

The paramagnetic centres used for ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) dating method should be thermally stable which is the main factor limiting the range of this method. In this work, thermal stabilities of the ESR centres in the cave deposites from the Aladaǧlar Massive and Alanya in Turkey has been investigated. The life times of the dating signal were calculated as about 4.0 and 3.7 years for G06 and G08 samples at the 10 °C depositing temperature. The activation energies of the centres are obtained the same, 0.7eV for both samples.

Face-centred cubic to body-centred cubic phase transformation under [1 0 0] tensile loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Hongxian; Yu, Jiayun; Yu, Tao; Yin, Fuxing

2018-06-01

Molecular dynamics simulation was used to verify a speculation of the existence of a certain face-centred cubic (FCC) to body-centred cubic (BCC) phase transformation pathway. Four FCC metals, Ni, Cu, Au and Ag, were stretched along the [1 0 0] direction at various strain rates and temperatures. Under high strain rate and low temperature, and beyond the elastic limit, the bifurcation of the FCC phase occurred with sudden contraction along one lateral direction and expansion along the other lateral direction. When the lattice constant along the expansion direction converged with that of the stretched direction, the FCC phase transformed into an unstressed BCC phase. By reducing the strain rate or increasing the temperature, dislocation or 'momentum-induced melting' mechanisms began to control the plastic deformation of the FCC metals, respectively.

Inquiry-Based Learning: An Educational Reform Based upon Content-Centred Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLoughlin, M. Padraig M. M.

2009-01-01

The author of this paper posits that inquiry-based learning (IBL) enacted via a modified Moore method (MMM) is a content-driven pedagogy; as such it is content-centred not instructor-centred or student-centred. The MMM is a philosophy of education where student must master material by doing; not simply discussing, reading, or seeing it and that…

Student centred teaching methods in a Chinese setting.

PubMed

Clarke, Janice

2010-01-01

This paper offers a discussion about using Western, student centred teaching methods with Chinese student nurses. There is increasing interest from Chinese nurse educators in student centred learning and an increase in partnerships between Chinese and Western universities. This paper suggests that the assumption that Western teaching methods are superior is now questioned and transferring Western style teaching to China requires a high degree of cultural sensitivity.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Information Centres and Services

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INFORMATION CENTRES AND SERVICES Accession For ZTIS GRA&I DTIC TAB Unarnnounoed 0- Justilfication By Distribution/ Availability...Recommending effective ways for the member nations to use their research and development capabilities for the common benefit of the NATO community; - Providing...evaluation is done. It proposes various strategies for altering the centres and services so that effectiveness is improved; in so doing, it covers

Off-Centre Effects in the Triplet Relaxed Excited State of Ga+ Centres in CsBr:Ga Crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalder, K.; Korrovits, V.; Nagirnyi, V.; Stolovits, A.; Zazubovich, S.; Babin, V.

1997-06-01

Spectra, polarization and decay kinetics of the triplet and singlet emission of Ga+ centres in CsBr:Ga crystals have been studied in the temperature range of 0.1 to 400 K. It has been found that the triplet AX and AT emission bands coincide. Two slow components have been observed in the decay kinetics of each emission at T < 1.5 K and explained by the tunnel splitting of the metastable minima of the corresponding triplet relaxed excited state. It points to the off-centre displacement of a Ga+ ion from a crystal lattice site both in the tetragonal (T) and in the trigonal (X) Jahn-Teller minima.

Organizational and operational capabilities of specialist centres for children with psychomotor disability in Abidjan.

PubMed

Alloh, D; Nandjui, B; Bombo, J; Manou, B; Twoolys, A; Alloukou, R; Ake, N; Konate-Konan, E; Pillah, L; Coulibaly, A

2009-06-01

To describe the organizational and operational capabilities of specialized centres for children with psychomotor disability in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. This descriptive study was carried out from February to May, 2006 at the various specialized centres for children with psychomotor disability that exist in the district of Abidjan. The procedure comprised a clinical description of the disabled children admitted to these centres and an assessment of the centres' organization and operational capabilities. Six specialist centres for children with psychomotor disability were identified, namely the Infant Guidance Centre, the Awakening and Stimulation Centre for disabled Children, the "Sainte-Magdeleine" Centre, the Medical and Training Institute, the "Page Blanche" institute and the "Colombes Notre Dame de la Paix" Centre. Among the children, 97.15% were day patients, 66.37% were mentally challenged, 30.96% had psychomotor impairment and 2.66% had motor impairments. The level of organization varied but the centres nevertheless had operational administrative, medical and paramedical staff, despite the absence of certain specialties. However, the lack of personnel, equipment and infrastructure is hindering the delivery of adequate services to the children. In Abidjan District, reception centres for children with psychomotor impairments are essentially privately run. Organizational and operational performances were suboptimal, with a low carer-to-patient ratio. Reinforcement of the centres' operational capabilities appears to be necessary.

Developing and testing the patient-centred innovation questionnaire for hospital nurses.

PubMed

Huang, Ching-Yuan; Weng, Rhay-Hung; Wu, Tsung-Chin; Lin, Tzu-En; Hsu, Ching-Tai; Hung, Chiu-Hsia; Tsai, Yu-Chen

2018-03-01

Develop the patient-centred innovation questionnaire for hospital nurses and establish its validity and reliability. Patient-centred care has been adopted by health care managers in their efforts to improve health care quality. It is regarded as a core concept for developing innovation. A cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from hospital nurses in Taiwan. This study was divided into two stages: pilot study and main study. In the main study, 596 valid responses were collected. This study adopted reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and selected nurse innovation scale as a criterion to test criterion-related validity. Five-dimension patient-centred innovation questionnaire was proposed: access and practicability, co-ordination and communication, sharing power and responsibility, care continuity, family and person focus. Each dimension demonstrated a reliability of 0.89-0.98. All dimensions had acceptable convergent and discriminate validity. The patient-centred innovation questionnaire and nurse innovation scale exhibited a significantly positive correlation. Patient-centred innovation questionnaire not only had a good theoretical basis but also had sufficient reliability and construct validity, and criterion-related validity. Patient-centred innovation questionnaire could give a measure for evaluating the implementation of patient-centred care and could be used as a management tool during the process of nurse innovation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The NERC Data Assimilation Research Centre and Envisat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LAHOZ, W. A.

2001-12-01

The NERC Data Assimilation Research Centre (DARC), a Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation, has been recently set up in the UK. DARC is a distributed centre, with participation from the universities of Reading, Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It has strong links with the UK Met Office, and with European data assimilation groups. One of the remits of DARC is the exploitation of research satellite data (e.g. from ESA's Envisat, due to be launched in November 2001). This presentation will describe the participation of DARC in the Envisat programme. This participation involves: (1) the calibration/validation of Envisat data using an NWP assimilation system, and (2) the production of 4-d quality-controlled datasets of temperature, ozone and water vapour from Envisat using an NWP assimilation system.

A Brief History of the J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobsey, Dick

2008-01-01

The J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre celebrated its 40th anniversary on September 1, 2007, followed by The University of Alberta's 100th anniversary in 2008. The year 2008 also brought the appointment of a new Director for the Centre. As the immediate past Director of the Centre, the author recounts some of the history of the J.P. Das…

Early childhood development: the role of community based childcare centres in Malawi.

PubMed

Munthali, Alister C; Mvula, Peter M; Silo, Lois

2014-01-01

Somatic changes including growth and development of the brain of a human being occur very early in life. Programmes that enhance early childhood development (ECD) therefore should be part of the national agenda. Cognizant of this fact, the Malawi Government together with development partners facilitated the establishment of community-based child care centres (CBCCs) which are owned and managed by community members. This study was aimed at understanding how CBCCs operated and their core functions. Using information from databases kept by the District Social Welfare Officers from all the 28 districts in Malawi, coupled with snowballing, all functioning CBCCs were enumerated. A questionnaire was administered to the head of the CBCC or a care giver. Highly trained Research Assistants also carried our observations of the structures around the centres and the activities that actually happened. Data was analysed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Communities provide structures, support for care givers, food, utensils, labour and play materials for the children in CBCCs. The first ECD centre was established in 1966 but the real surge in establishing these happened towards the end of the 1990s and by 2007 there were 5,665 CBCCs in Malawi caring for 407,468 children aged between 3 and 5 years. CBCCs were established to provide pre-primary school learning, and in some cases provide special care to orphans and other vulnerable. Despite the fact that most CBCC premises and structures fell short of the standards laid down by the CBCC profile, the activities and services provided were mostly to the book. Children were provided with nutritious foods and subjected to play that stimulated their cognitive and mental development. Despite the fact that some members of the community do not realize the value of the CBCCs, the existence of these institutions is an opportunity for the community to take care of their children communally, a task that has become imperative as a

Work experiences among attendees of day centres for people with psychiatric disabilities.

PubMed

Eklund, Mona; Sandlund, Mikael

2015-01-01

It is possible that people with psychiatric disabilities who visit day centres have previous work experiences that may be seen as resources for their current engagement in day centre activities. Research in this respect seems to lack, however. To investigate work experiences among attendees at day centres for people with psychiatric disabilities and relationships with current type of day centre (work-oriented, meeting place-oriented or mixed), engagement in day centre activities, motivation and socio-demographic and health-related factors. Seventy-seven attendees responded to questionnaires. Global Assessment of Functioning, GAF, was also used. Work was categorised into Group I (professionals, semi-professionals), Group II (clerical support, services workers) and Group III (e.g. craft workers, elementary occupations). Almost everyone had previously had open-market employment; more than half for ≥ 10 years. Group I was more common in mixed centres, Group II in meeting place-oriented ones and Group III in work-oriented ones. Group I more frequently had college degree and was rated high on GAF functioning. Women were over-represented in Group II, and men in Group III and in meeting place-oriented centres. Attending mixed centres was more likely when having a college degree, scoring high on GAF functioning and being highly engaged in activities. Attendees at work-oriented day centres were characterised by being motivated for spending time alone and reporting a diagnosis of psychosis. The participants had unused working capacity. No clear-cut relationships were found between work experiences and the investigated correlates.

Cyclic strain rate effects in fatigued face-centred and body-centred cubic metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mughrabi, Haël

2013-09-01

The present work deals mainly with the effect and the use of strain rate and temperature changes during cyclic deformation as a means to obtain valuable information on the thermally activated dislocation glide processes, based on the assessment of reversible changes of the thermal effective stress and of transient changes of the athermal stress. The importance of closed-loop testing in true plastic strain control with constant cyclic plastic strain rate throughout the cycle is explained and emphasized, especially with respect to the case of strain rate sensitive materials. Stress responses of face-centred cubic and body-centred cubic (bcc) metals to cyclic strain rate changes are presented to illustrate that the deformation modes of these two classes of materials differ characteristically at temperatures below that the so-called knee temperature of bcc metals. When such tests are performed in cyclic saturation, the temperature and strain rate dependence of bcc metals can be measured very accurately on one and the same specimen, permitting a thorough analysis of thermal activation.

Bureaucracy, professionalization and school centred innovation strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, Paul

1990-03-01

This paper examines an attempt to promote a school centred innovation strategy within a highly centralized educational system. The School Based Curriculum Project Scheme, which was introduced into Hong Kong in 1988, is analysed in terms of a professional-bureaucratic dichotomy. It is argued that the operational details of the scheme are designed to satisfy a range of bureaucratic concerns and these are not conducive to promoting the professional work ethic which is required for school centred innovation. Finally the paper identifies the implications which arise for policies designed to promote curriculum innovation.

Closing the gender leadership gap: a multi-centre cross-country comparison of women in management and leadership in academic health centres in the European Union.

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Ellen; Ovseiko, Pavel V; Kurmeyer, Christine; Gutiérrez-Lobos, Karin; Steinböck, Sandra; von Knorring, Mia; Buchan, Alastair M; Brommels, Mats

2017-01-06

Women's participation in medicine and the need for gender equality in healthcare are increasingly recognised, yet little attention is paid to leadership and management positions in large publicly funded academic health centres. This study illustrates such a need, taking the case of four large European centres: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Medizinische Universität Wien (Austria), and Oxford Academic Health Science Centre (United Kingdom). The percentage of female medical students and doctors in all four countries is now well within the 40-60% gender balance zone. Women are less well represented among specialists and remain significantly under-represented among senior doctors and full professors. All four centres have made progress in closing the gender leadership gap on boards and other top-level decision-making bodies, but a gender leadership gap remains relevant. The level of achieved gender balance varies significantly between the centres and largely mirrors country-specific welfare state models, with more equal gender relations in Sweden than in the other countries. Notably, there are also similar trends across countries and centres: gender inequality is stronger within academic enterprises than within hospital enterprises and stronger in middle management than at the top level. These novel findings reveal fissures in the 'glass ceiling' effects at top-level management, while the barriers for women shift to middle-level management and remain strong in academic positions. The uneven shifts in the leadership gap are highly relevant and have policy implications. Setting gender balance objectives exclusively for top-level decision-making bodies may not effectively promote a wider goal of gender equality. Academic health centres should pay greater attention to gender equality as an issue of organisational performance and good leadership at all levels of management, with particular attention to academic enterprises

Fast Response of the Tropics to an Abrupt Loss of Arctic Sea Ice via Ocean Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kun; Deser, Clara; Sun, Lantao; Tomas, Robert A.

2018-05-01

The role of ocean dynamics in the transient adjustment of the coupled climate system to an abrupt loss of Arctic sea ice is investigated using experiments with Community Climate System Model version 4 in two configurations: a thermodynamic slab mixed layer ocean and a full-depth ocean that includes both dynamics and thermodynamics. Ocean dynamics produce a distinct sea surface temperature warming maximum in the eastern equatorial Pacific, accompanied by an equatorward intensification of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and Hadley Circulation. These tropical responses are established within 25 years of ice loss and contrast markedly with the quasi-steady antisymmetric coupled response in the slab-ocean configuration. A heat budget analysis reveals the importance of anomalous vertical advection tied to a monotonic temperature increase below 200 m for the equatorial sea surface temperature warming maximum in the fully coupled model. Ocean dynamics also rapidly modify the midlatitude atmospheric response to sea ice loss.

Tropospheric jet response to Antarctic ozone depletion: An update with Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Son, Seok-Woo; Han, Bo-Reum; Garfinkel, Chaim I.; Kim, Seo-Yeon; Park, Rokjin; Abraham, N. Luke; Akiyoshi, Hideharu; Archibald, Alexander T.; Butchart, N.; Chipperfield, Martyn P.; Dameris, Martin; Deushi, Makoto; Dhomse, Sandip S.; Hardiman, Steven C.; Jöckel, Patrick; Kinnison, Douglas; Michou, Martine; Morgenstern, Olaf; O’Connor, Fiona M.; Oman, Luke D.; Plummer, David A.; Pozzer, Andrea; Revell, Laura E.; Rozanov, Eugene; Stenke, Andrea; Stone, Kane; Tilmes, Simone; Yamashita, Yousuke; Zeng, Guang

2018-05-01

The Southern Hemisphere (SH) zonal-mean circulation change in response to Antarctic ozone depletion is re-visited by examining a set of the latest model simulations archived for the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) project. All models reasonably well reproduce Antarctic ozone depletion in the late 20th century. The related SH-summer circulation changes, such as a poleward intensification of westerly jet and a poleward expansion of the Hadley cell, are also well captured. All experiments exhibit quantitatively the same multi-model mean trend, irrespective of whether the ocean is coupled or prescribed. Results are also quantitatively similar to those derived from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) high-top model simulations in which the stratospheric ozone is mostly prescribed with monthly- and zonally-averaged values. These results suggest that the ozone-hole-induced SH-summer circulation changes are robust across the models irrespective of the specific chemistry-atmosphere-ocean coupling.

Complex organic molecules in the Galactic Centre: the N-bearing family

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, S.; Jiménez-Serra, I.; Rivilla, V. M.; Martín, S.; Martín-Pintado, J.; Requena-Torres, M. A.; Armijos-Abendaño, J.; Riquelme, D.; Aladro, R.

2018-05-01

We present an unbiased spectral line survey toward the Galactic Centre (GC) quiescent giant molecular cloud (QGMC), G+0.693 using the GBT and IRAM 30 telescopes. Our study highlights an extremely rich organic inventory of abundant amounts of nitrogen (N)-bearing species in a source without signatures of star formation. We report the detection of 17 N-bearing species in this source, of which 8 are complex organic molecules (COMs). A comparison of the derived abundances relative to H2 is made across various galactic and extragalactic environments. We conclude that the unique chemistry in this source is likely to be dominated by low-velocity shocks with X-rays/cosmic rays also playing an important role in the chemistry. Like previous findings obtained for O-bearing molecules, our results for N-bearing species suggest a more efficient hydrogenation of these species on dust grains in G+0.693 than in hot cores in the Galactic disk, as a consequence of the low dust temperatures coupled with energetic processing by X-ray/cosmic ray radiation in the GC.

Linking the South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the Global Monsoons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez, H.; Dong, S.; Goni, G. J.; Lee, S. K.

2016-02-01

This study tested the hypothesis whether low frequency decadal variability of the South Atlantic meridional heat transport (SAMHT) influences decadal variability of the global monsoons. A multi-century run from a state-of-the-art coupled general circulation model is used as basis for the analysis. Our findings indicate that multi-decadal variability of the South Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in modulating atmospheric circulation via interhemispheric changes in Atlantic Ocean heat content. Weaker SAMHT produces anomalous ocean heat divergence over the South Atlantic resulting in negative ocean heat content anomaly about 15 years later. This, in turn, forces a thermally direct anomalous interhemispheric Hadley circulation in the atmosphere, transporting heat from the northern hemisphere (NH) to the southern hemisphere (SH) and moisture from the SH to the NH, thereby intensify (weaken) summer (winter) monsoon in the NH and winter (summer) monsoon in the SH. Results also show that anomalous atmospheric eddies, both transient and stationary, transport heat northward in both hemispheres producing eddy heat flux convergence (divergence) in the NH (SH) around 15-30°, reinforcing the anomalous Hadley circulation. Overall, SAMHT decadal variability leads its atmospheric response by about 15 years, suggesting that the South Atlantic is a potential predictor of global climate variability.

Genuine participation in participant-centred research initiatives: the rhetoric and the potential reality.

PubMed

Feeney, Oliver; Borry, Pascal; Felzmann, Heike; Galvagni, Lucia; Haukkala, Ari; Loi, Michele; Nordal, Salvör; Rakic, Vojin; Riso, Brígida; Sterckx, Sigrid; Vears, Danya

2018-04-01

The introduction of Web 2.0 technology, along with a population increasingly proficient in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), coupled with the rapid advancements in genetic testing methods, has seen an increase in the presence of participant-centred research initiatives. Such initiatives, aided by the centrality of ICT interconnections, and the ethos they propound seem to further embody the ideal of increasing the participatory nature of research, beyond what might be possible in non-ICT contexts alone. However, the majority of such research seems to actualise a much narrower definition of 'participation'-where it is merely the case that such research initiatives have increased contact with participants through ICT but are otherwise non-participatory in any important normative sense. Furthermore, the rhetoric of participant-centred initiatives tends to inflate this minimalist form of participation into something that it is not, i.e. something genuinely participatory, with greater connections with both the ICT-facilitated political contexts and the largely non-ICT participatory initiatives that have expanded in contemporary health and research contexts. In this paper, we highlight that genuine (ICT-based) 'participation' should enable a reasonable minimum threshold of participatory engagement through, at least, three central participatory elements: educative, sense of being involved and degree of control. While we agree with criticisms that, at present, genuine participation seems more rhetoric than reality, we believe that there is clear potential for a greater ICT-facilitated participatory engagement on all three participatory elements. We outline some practical steps such initiatives could take to further develop these elements and thereby their level of ICT-facilitated participatory engagement.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Indoor Tanning in Fitness Centres.

PubMed

Huang, Christina M; Kirchhof, Mark G

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a human carcinogen and is associated with the development of skin cancer. The promotion of indoor tanning (IT) at fitness centres is of particular concern as it reinforces the idea that a tan is associated with health and fitness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of IT in fitness centres, with an emphasis on determining the financial costs, adherence to regulations, and safety precautions. Ten cities, representing 9 different Canadian provinces, were chosen for the study. From each province, a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 fitness centres were randomly selected from the Yellow Pages website. Each fitness centre was contacted by the principal investigator and inquiries were made from a consumer's perspective. Of the 203 gyms surveyed, 43% (88/203) offered tanning facilities. Of these, 10.23% (9/88) were found to be noncompliant with the provincial IT regulations for age and/or time between tanning sessions. Despite the known risks of IT, not all fitness centres are compliant with provincial legislations regarding IT, and some continue to promote tanning access to minors.

Hands-On versus Teacher-Centred Experiments in Soil Ecology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randler, Christoph; Hulde, Madeleine

2007-01-01

This study focused on differences between teacher-centred and learner-centred experiments in soil ecology. After a pilot study, we selected three experiments simple enough to be carried out by pupils even with little experience in self-determined learning and hands-on practice. The sample comprised 123 fifth and sixth graders from a middle school…

Couples' willingness to donate embryos for research: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Samorinha, Catarina; Severo, Milton; Machado, Helena; Figueiredo, Bárbara; de Freitas, Cláudia; Silva, Susana

2016-08-01

Decision-making on embryo disposition is a source of distress and is subject to change over time. This paper analyzes the willingness of couples undergoing in vitro fertilization to donate cryopreserved embryos for research from 15 days after embryo transfer to 12 months later, taking into account the influence of psychosocial, demographic, and reproductive factors. Prospective longitudinal study, with 74 heterosexual couples undergoing in vitro fertilization in a public fertility centre in Portugal, recruited between 2011 and 2012. Participants were evaluated twice: 15 days after embryo transfer and 12 months later. A significant decrease in patients' willingness to donate embryos for research over time was observed [86.5% to 73.6%; relative risk (RR) = 0.85; 95% CI 0.76-0.95]. A higher education level (>12 years) [adjusted RR (RRadj ) = 0.79; 95% CI 0.64-0.96], considering research on human embryos to be important (vs. very important) (RRadj = 0.59; 95% CI 0.39-0.85) and practicing a religion less than once a month (vs. at least once a month) (RRadj = 0.73; 95% CI 0.53-1.00) seemed associated with unwillingness to donate embryos for research over time. Change towards non-donation happened mainly among couples who first considered that it was better to donate than wasting the embryos. Change towards donation occurred mostly among those stating that their priority at time 1 was to have a baby and who became pregnant in the meantime. Quality of care guided by patients' characteristics, values, preferences, and needs calls for considering the factors and reasons underlying couples' willingness to donate embryos for research over time as a topic in psychosocial guidelines for infertility and medically assisted reproductive care. © 2016 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Depression: The Differing Narratives of Couples in Couple Therapy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rautiainen, Eija-Liisa; Aaltonen, Jukka

2010-01-01

How does the spouse of a person with depression take part in constructing narratives of depression in couple therapy? In this study we examined couples' ways of co-constructing narratives of depression in couple therapy. Three couple therapy processes were chosen for the study, one spouse in each couple having been referred to an outpatient clinic…

System-centred tobacco management: from 'whole-person' to 'whole-system' change.

PubMed

Bonevski, Billie

2014-01-01

Patient-centred tobacco management is a pragmatic approach for helping smokers achieve their goals in terms of either cessation or harm reduction. However, the success of the approach is dependent on clinicians embracing and delivering it as intended. There are a number of structural and systemic organisational barriers which are limiting clinician-delivered patient-centred tobacco dependence. In response, 'whole system' approaches which help support clinicians in the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are required. Health system changes to support clinicians and facilitate the delivery of patient-centred tobacco management are worth further investigation, particularly in settings where tobacco smoking rates are high. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

The changing interface between district hospital cardiology and the major cardiac centres

PubMed Central

1997-01-01

The national priority for reducing mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular disease, the resulting expansion in the number of consultant cardiologists, and the reforms of the National Health Service have produced significant changes in delivery of care for cardiac patients and in the relations between district general hospitals (DGH) and the old regional cardiac centres. 1.2 The British Cardiac Society, the Medical Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow established a working group to make recommendations on the most appropriate evolution of these changes to secure high quality care in a cost-effective and professionally rewarding environment. The principal conclusions of the working group were: i) The establishment of new cardiac catheterisation laboratories in DGHs remote from a major cardiac centre should be encouraged provided the workload is adequate to ensure efficient use of the facility. ii) Cardiologists working in districts close to a major centre should be encouraged to catheterise their patients at the centre. iii) Close liaison of the district cardiologist with a cardiac surgeon and interventionist is vitally important. iv) The centres will be required to provide tertiary care for emergency and urgent cases from their traditional catchment area, specialised expertise for the management of rare and difficult cases, and angioplasty. Some centres will also offer complex electrophysiology, and ablation techniques. v) The centres must also provide routine cardiology services for their local district, facilities for cardiac catheterisation for DGH cardiologists, and training for doctors, nurses, technicians, and radiographers. vi) Some centres will be linked with paediatric cardiology and paediatric cardiac surgical units. vii) District cardiac centres will be required to provide a full non-invasive diagnostic service and emergency care for patients referred by general practitioners

Problems and Prospects of Education Resource Centres in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekanem, Johnson Efiong

2015-01-01

Nigeria has good policies on Education and one of such policies is the establishment of Education Resource Centres in every State of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The need is clearly articulated in the National Policy on Education. Despite the lofty plan, most of the centres are not fulfilling the need for their…

Nurse middle managers contributions to patient-centred care: A 'managerial work' analysis.

PubMed

Lalleman, Pcb; Smid, Gac; Dikken, J; Lagerwey, M D; Schuurmans, M J

2017-10-01

Nurse middle managers are in an ideal position to facilitate patient-centred care. However, their contribution is underexposed in literature due to difficulties to articulate this in practice. This paper explores how nurse middle managers contribute to patient-centred care in hospitals. A combination of time-use analysis and ethnographic work was used to disclose their contribution to patient-centred care at a micro level. Sixteen nurse managers were shadowed for over 560 hours in four hospitals. Some nurse middle managers seldom contribute to patient-centred care. Others are involved in direct patient care, but this does not result in patient-centred practices. At one hospital, the nurse middle managers did contribute to patient-centred care. Here balancing between "organizing work" and "caring work" is seen as a precondition for their patient-centeredness. Other important themes are feedback mechanisms; place matters; with whom to talk and how to frame the issues at stake; and behavioral style. Both "hands-on" and "heads-on" caring work of nurse middle managers enhances their patient-centeredness. This study is the first of its kind to obtain insight in the often difficult to articulate "doings" of nurse middle managers with regard to patient-centred care through combining time-use analysis with ethnographic work. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A macro perspective for client-centred practice in curricula: Critique and teaching methods.

PubMed

Fleming-Castaldy, Rita P

2015-07-01

Client-centred practice is often eclipsed by social, economic, and political inequities. Ignoring these realities obstructs clients' goal attainment. The author advocates for the integration of a macro perspective inclusive of participation barriers and supports in occupational therapy curricula and seeks to motivate educators to adopt teaching approaches that develop students' abilities to address the complexities of client-centred practice. This article integrates a critical analysis of the literature on client-centred practice with reflexivity on disability studies and autoethnography. Educational standards require students to learn about the social, economic, and political contexts that impact on client-centred practice and the need for advocacy to enable participation. Theoretical support of a macro perspective for client-centred practice is strongly evident in the literature. Information on methods for teaching students how to actualize these concepts in practice is scant. Thus, strategies to inform the integration of a macro perspective into curricula and concrete activities to develop students' competencies for empowered client-centred practice are required. Educators have an ethical responsibility to critique their pedagogy to determine whether they are adequately preparing students for client-centred practice. The focus must move from teaching a micro perspective of client-centred practice to a macro perspective that enables occupational justice and empowerment.

COUPLING

DOEpatents

Hawke, B.C.

1963-02-26

This patent relates to a releasable coupling connecting a control rod to a control rod drive. This remotely operable coupling mechanism can connect two elements which are laterally and angviarly misaligned, and provides a means for sensing the locked condition of the elements. The coupling utilizes a spherical bayonet joint which is locked against rotation by a ball detent lock. (AEC)

Simulation of the electric potential and plasma generation coupling in magnetron sputtering discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trieschmann, Jan; Krueger, Dennis; Schmidt, Frederik; Brinkmann, Ralf Peter; Mussenbrock, Thomas

2016-09-01

Magnetron sputtering typically operated at low pressures below 1 Pa is a widely applied deposition technique. For both, high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) as well as direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS) the phenomenon of rotating ionization zones (also referred to as spokes) has been observed. A distinct spatial profile of the electric potential has been associated with the latter, giving rise to low, mid, and high energy groups of ions observed at the substrate. The adherent question of which mechanism drives this process is still not fully understood. This query is approached using Monte Carlo simulations of the heavy particle (i.e., ions and neutrals) transport consistently coupled to a pre-specified electron density profile via the intrinsic electric field. The coupling between the plasma generation and the electric potential, which establishes correspondingly, is investigated. While the system is observed to strive towards quasi-neutrality, distinct mechanisms governing the shape of the electric potential profile are identified. This work is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the frame of the transregional collaborative research centre TRR 87.

Amazon collapse in the next century: exploring the sensitivity to climate and model formulation uncertainties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Booth, B.; Collins, M.; Harris, G.; Chris, H.; Jones, C.

2007-12-01

A number of recent studies have highlighted the risk of abrupt dieback of the Amazon Rain Forest as the result of climate changes over the next century. The recent 2005 Amazon drought brought wider acceptance of the idea that that climate drivers will play a significant role in future rain forest stability, yet that stability is still subject to considerable degree of uncertainty. We present a study which seeks to explore some of the underlying uncertainties both in the climate drivers of dieback and in the terrestrial land surface formulation used in GCMs. We adopt a perturbed physics approach which forms part of a wider project which is covered in an accompanying abstract submitted to the multi-model ensembles session. We first couple the same interactive land surface model to a number of different versions of the Hadley Centre atmosphere-ocean model that exhibit a wide range of different physical climate responses in the future. The rainforest extent is shown to collapse in all model cases but the timing of the collapse is dependent on the magnitude of the climate drivers. In the second part, we explore uncertainties in the terrestrial land surface model using the perturbed physics ensemble approach, perturbing uncertain parameters which have an important role in the vegetation and soil response. Contrasting the two approaches enables a greater understanding of the relative importance of climatic and land surface model uncertainties in Amazon dieback.

Sensitivity of South American tropical climate to Last Glacial Maximum boundary conditions: focus on teleconnections with tropics and extratropics (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khodri, M.; Kageyama, M.; Roche, D. M.

2009-12-01

Proxy data over tropical latitudes for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has been interpreted as a southward shift of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and so far linked to a mechanism analogous to the modern day “meridional-mode” in the Atlantic Ocean. Here we have explored alternative mechanisms, related to the direct impact of the LGM global changes in the dry static stability on tropical moist deep convection. We have used a coupled ocean-atmosphere model capable of capturing the thermodynamical structure of the atmosphere and the tropical component of the Hadley and Walker circulations. In each experiment, we have applied either all the LGM forcings, or the individual contributions of greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations, ice sheet topography and/or albedo to explore the hydrological response over tropical latitudes with a focus on South America. The dominant forcing for the LGM tropical temperature and precipitation changes is found to be due to the reduced GHG, through the direct effect of reduced radiative heating (Clausius-Clapeyron relationship). The LGM GHG is also responsible for increased extra-tropical static stability which strengthens the Hadley Cell. Stronger subsidence over northern tropics then produces an amplification of the northern tropics drying initially due to the direct cooling effect. The land ice sheet is also able to promote the Hadley cell feedback mostly via the topographic effect on the extra-tropical dry static stability and on the position of the subtropical jets. Our results therefore suggest that the communication between the extratropics and the tropics is tighter during LGM and does not necessarily rely on the “meridional-mode” mechanism. The Hadley cell response is constrained by the requirement that diabatic heating in the tropics balances cooling in subtropics. We show that such extratropics-tropics dependence is stronger at the LGM because of the stronger perturbation of northern extra tropical thermal and

Audit of tumour histopathology reviewed by a regional oncology centre.

PubMed Central

Prescott, R J; Wells, S; Bisset, D L; Banerjee, S S; Harris, M

1995-01-01

AIMS--To analyse the diagnostic differences in reporting tumour histopathology between a district general hospital and a regional oncology centre. METHODS--Tumour histopathology reports (n = 227) extracted from Bolton General Hospital files between 1988 and 1992 were compared with the corresponding Christie Hospital (oncology centre) reports, the same material having been seen at both hospitals. RESULTS--Diagnostic agreement existed in 77% of all cases. The incidence of major discrepancies was 8.37%. Of the diagnoses, 19 (36%) cases involved major discrepancies and 34 (64%) cases minor discrepancies. Most discrepancies occurred in the lymphoma group and involved subclassification of Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ki1 anaplastic large cell lymphoma and T cell rich B cell lymphoma were problematic diagnoses. The correct grading of follicle centre cell lymphomas using the Kiel classification was another problem area. In 19 cases certain aspects of immunohistochemistry produced discrepancies. In one case an incorrect diagnosis was made at the oncology centre and in another both centres gave an incorrect diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS--Areas of diagnostic difficulty mainly involve the subclassification of lymphomas. Review of tumour pathology by experts is recommended, at least in certain categories, to ensure correct diagnosis and uniformity in subclassification of tumours. PMID:7730487

Educational inequalities in patient-centred care: patients' preferences and experiences

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Educational attainment is strongly related to specific health outcomes. The pathway in which individual patient-provider interactions contribute to (re)producing these inequalities has yet to be studied. In this article, the focus is on differences between less and more highly educated patients in their preferences for and experiences with patient-centred care., e.g. shared decision making, receiving understandable explanations and being able to ask questions. Methods Data are derived from several Consumer Quality-index (CQ-index) studies. The CQ-index is a family of standardized instruments which are used in the Netherlands to measure quality of care from the patient’s perspective. Results The educational level of patients is directly related to the degree of importance patients attribute to specific aspects of patient-centred care. It has a minor influence on the experienced level of shared decision making, but not on experiences regarding other aspects of patient-centred care. Conclusions All patients regard patient-centred care as important and report positive experiences. However, there is a discrepancy between patient preferences for patient-centred care on one hand and the care received on the other. Less educated patients might receive ‘too much’, and more highly educated patients ‘too little’ in the domains of communication, information and shared decision making. PMID:22900589

Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) as the driver of seismo-ionospheric coupling: recent major earthquakes of Nepal and Imphal - case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Suman; Chakrabarti, Sandip Kumar; Sasmal, Sudipta

2016-07-01

An important channel of the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (LAIC) is the acoustic and gravity wave channel where the atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) play the most important part. Atmospheric waves are excited due to seismic gravitational vibrations before earthquakes and their effects on the atmosphere are the sources for seismo-ionospheric coupling which are manifested as perturbations in Very Low Frequency (VLF)/Low Frequency (LF) signal (amplitude/phase). For our study, we chose the recent major earthquakes that took place in Nepal and Imphal. The Nepal earthquake occurred on 12th May, 2015 at 12:50 pm local time (07:05 UTC) with Richter scale magnitude of M = 7.3 and depth 10 km (6.21 miles) at southeast of Kodari. The Imphal earthquake occurred on 4th January, 2016 at 4:35 am local time (23:05 UTC , 3rd January, UTC) with Richter scale magnitude of M = 6.7 and depth 55 km (34.2 miles). The data has been collected from Ionospheric and Earthquake Research Centre (IERC) of Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP) transmitted from JJI station of Japan. We performed both Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and wavelet analysis on the VLF data for a couple of days before and after the major earthquakes. For both earthquakes, we observed wave like structures with periods of almost an hour before and after the earthquake day. The wave like oscillations after the earthquake may be due to the aftershock effects. We also observed that the amplitude of the wave like structures depends on the location of the epicenter between the transmitting and the receiving points and also on the depth of the earthquake.

Spatiotemporal reference evapotranspiration changes in humid and semi-arid regions of Iran: past trends and future projections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nouri, Milad; Homaee, Mehdi; Bannayan, Mohammad

2017-06-01

This study was undertaken to investigate the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) changes in semi-arid and humid regions of Iran during the past (1966-2010) and future (2011-2099). For detecting possible trend in ET0 over 1966-2010, the Mann-Kendall trend test was employed. The outputs of Hadley Centre coupled model version 3 (HadCM3) and the third generation couple global climate model (CGCM3) under A2, B2, and A1B emission scenarios were also used to simulate the future ET0 changes by statistical downscaling model (SDSM). The results indicated upward trends in annual ET0 during 1966-2010 in the most sites. Furthermore, the significant increasing ET0 trends were identified for 54.5, 18.2, 27.3, 22.7, and 36.3% of studied locations during winter, spring, summer, autumn, and entire year, respectively. Positive trends in ET0 were mostly found in northeast, west, and northwest Iran, and insignificant downward ET0 trends were primarily detected in southwestern and southern stations in 1966-2010. The ET0 changes were attributed to wind speed changes in semi-arid regions and mean temperature changes in humid areas in the past period. An increase in ET0 was projected under all scenarios due mainly to temperature rise and declined relative humidity in the investigated regions from 2011 to 2100. Averaged over all stations, the lowest and highest ET0 increment were, respectively, modeled for autumn and summer using CGCM3 outputs and winter and autumn using HadCM3 outputs. Given significant ET0 increase over the twenty-first century, appropriate adaptive measures are required to reduce negative impacts of climate change on water resources and agricultural productions.

Audit of sweat testing: a first report from Italian Cystic Fibrosis Centres.

PubMed

Cirilli, Natalia; Padoan, Rita; Raia, Valeria

2008-09-01

Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis is confirmed using sweat test. The aim of our study was to evaluate current techniques and methodologies in use at Italian CF Care Centres. A series of questions related to the performance of the sweat test was collected by all CF Care Centres in Italy. Answers were compared with UK and NCCLS guidelines. 39/41 Centres replied to the questionnaire. A good adherence to guidelines was registered for storing samples before analysis in 90.9%, while performing CF diagnosis by at least two sweat tests, and chloride analysis were reported respectively in 100% and 75.7% of Centres. Some inconsistencies were registered for minimum acceptable sweat quantity and time to collect sweat inadequate in respectively 42.5% and 24.2% of Centres, while performing quality control procedures and referring to an external quality assessment scheme were found inadequate in respectively 54.6% and 100%. 57.6% didn't provide any appropriate analytical ranges and only 15.1% of Centres offered proper information to patients/parents. A report form, including sweat quantity, reference ranges and interpretation, was adequate only for 9.4 up to 41.4% of CF Centres. Our study showed areas of inconsistencies in sweat testing current practices in Italy and highlights the need for evidence based national guidelines to improve practice and management strategies.

Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic language person-centred climate questionnaire-staff version.

PubMed

Aljuaid, Mohammed; Elmontsri, Mustafa; Edvardsson, David; Rawaf, Salman; Majeed, Azeem

2018-05-01

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic language person-centred climate questionnaire-staff version. There have been increasing calls for a person-centred rather than a disease-centred approach to health care. A limited number of tools measure the extent to which care is delivered in a person-centred manner, and none of these tools have been validated for us in Arab settings. The validated form of the person-centred climate questionnaire-staff version was translated into Arabic and distributed to 152 health care staff in teaching and non-teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Statistical estimates of validity and reliability were used for psychometric evaluation. Items on the Arabic form of the person-centred climate questionnaire-staff version had high reliability (Cronbach's alpha .98). Cronbach's alpha values for the three sub-scales (safety, everydayness and community), were .96, .97 and .95 respectively. Internal consistency was also high and measures of validity were very good. Arabic form of the person-centred climate questionnaire-staff version provides a valid and reliable way to measure the degree of perceived person-centredness. The tool can be used for comparing levels of person-centredness between wards, units, and public and private hospitals. The tool can also be used to measure the extent of person-centredness in health care settings in other Arab countries. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A person-centred and thriving-promoting intervention in nursing homes - study protocol for the U-Age nursing home multi-centre, non-equivalent controlled group before-after trial.

PubMed

Edvardsson, David; Sjögren, Karin; Lood, Qarin; Bergland, Ådel; Kirkevold, Marit; Sandman, Per-Olof

2017-01-17

The literature suggests that person-centred care can contribute to quality of life and wellbeing of nursing home residents, relatives and staff. However, there is sparse research evidence on how person-centred care can be operationalised and implemented in practice, and the extent to which it may promote wellbeing and satisfaction. Therefore, the U-Age nursing home study was initiated to deepen the understanding of how to integrate person-centred care into daily practice and to explore the effects and meanings of this. The study aims to evaluate effects and meanings of a person-centred and thriving-promoting intervention in nursing homes through a multi-centre, non-equivalent controlled group before-after trial design. Three nursing homes across three international sites have been allocated to a person-centred and thriving-promoting intervention group, and three nursing homes have been allocated to an inert control group. Staff at intervention sites will participate in a 12-month interactive educational programme that operationalises thriving-promoting and person-centred care three dimensions: 1) Doing a little extra, 2) Developing a caring environment, and 3) Assessing and meeting highly prioritised psychosocial needs. A pedagogical framework will guide the intervention. The primary study endpoints are; residents' thriving, relatives' satisfaction with care and staff job satisfaction. Secondary endpoints are; resident, relative and staff experiences of the caring environment, relatives' experience of visiting their relative and the nursing home, as well as staff stress of conscience and perceived person-centredness of care. Data on study endpoints will be collected pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at a six-month follow up. Interviews will be conducted with relatives and staff to explore experiences and meanings of the intervention. The study is expected to provide evidence that can inform further research, policy and practice development on if and how

The effect of anthropogenic emissions corrections on the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooks, B. J.; Hoffman, F. M.; Mills, R. T.; Erickson, D. J.; Blasing, T. J.

2009-12-01

A previous study (Erickson et al. 2008) approximated the monthly global emission estimates of anthropogenic CO2 by applying a 2-harmonic Fourier expansion with coefficients as a function of latitude to annual CO2 flux estimates derived from United States data (Blasing et al. 2005) that were extrapolated globally. These monthly anthropogenic CO2 flux estimates were used to model atmospheric concentrations using the NASA GEOS-4 data assimilation system. Local variability in the amplitude of the simulated CO2 seasonal cycle were found to be on the order of 2-6 ppmv. Here we used the same Fourier expansion to seasonally adjust the global annual fossil fuel CO2 emissions from the SRES A2 scenario. For a total of four simulations, both the annual and seasonalized fluxes were advected in two configurations of the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) used in the Carbon-Land Model Intercomparison Project (C-LAMP). One configuration used the NCAR Community Land Model (CLM) coupled with the CASA‧ (carbon only) biogeochemistry model and the other used CLM coupled with the CN (coupled carbon and nitrogen cycles) biogeochemistry model. All four simulations were forced with observed sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentrations from the Hadley Centre and a prescribed transient atmospheric CO2 concentration for the radiation and land forcing over the 20th century. The model results exhibit differences in the seasonal cycle of CO2 between the seasonally corrected and uncorrected simulations. Moreover, because of differing energy and water feedbacks between the atmosphere model and the two land biogeochemistry models, features of the CO2 seasonal cycle were different between these two model configurations. This study reinforces previous findings that suggest that regional near-surface atmospheric CO2 concentrations depend strongly on the natural sources and sinks of CO2, but also on the strength of local anthropogenic CO2 emissions and geographic position. This work further

Ninety day mortality following pancreatoduodenectomy in England: has the optimum centre volume been identified?

PubMed

Liu, Z; Peneva, I S; Evison, F; Sahdra, S; Mirza, D F; Charnley, R M; Savage, R; Moss, P A; Roberts, K J

2018-06-09

Mortality following pancreatoduodenectomy is related to centre volume although the optimal volume is not defined. Patients undergoing PD between 2001 and 2016 were identified from UK national databases. The effects of patient variables, centre volume and time period upon 90 day mortality were studied. 90 day mortality (970/14,935, 6.5%) was related to advanced age, comorbidity, diagnosis, ethnicity, deprivation, centre volume and time period. Mortality rates fell markedly from 10.0% in 2001-4 to 4.1% in 2013-16. There was no difference in 90 day mortality between high (36 -60 PD per year) and very high volume (>60) centres. However, patients operated upon at very high volume centres were more elderly (66, 58 -73 vs 65, 56 -72; median, IQR; p = 0.006), deprived (38.7 vs 34.6%; p < 0.001) and co morbid (48.9 vs 46.1%; p = 0.027). Although a plateau in the centre volume and mortality relationship appears to have been demonstrated those patients treated at the highest volume centres were at higher risk of mortality. This data suggests therefore that to further understand outcomes from specialist centres characteristics of the patient population should be defined, not just centre volume. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Birth centres and the national maternity services review: response to consumer demand or compromise?

PubMed

Dahlen, H; Jackson, M; Schmied, V; Tracy, S; Priddis, H

2011-12-01

In February 2009 the Improving Maternity Services in Australia - The Report of the Maternity Services Review (MSR) was released and recommended improving women's access to and availability of birth centres. It was unclear if this was in response to an overwhelming request for birth centres in the submissions received by the commonwealth or a compromise for excluding homebirth from the maternity service reforms. The aim of this paper was to examine what was said in the submissions to the MSR about birth centres. Data for this study comprised 832 submissions to the MSR that are publicly available on the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health and Ageing website. All 832 submissions were downloaded, and read for any mention of the words 'birth centre', 'birth center'. Content analysis was used to categorise and report the data. Of the 832 submissions to the MSR 197 (24%) mentioned birth centres while 470 (60%) of the submissions mentioned homebirth. Only 31 (4%) of the submissions to the Maternity Review mentioned birth centres without mentioning home birth also. Most of the submissions emphasised that 'everything should be on the menu' when it came to place of birth and care provider. Reasons for choosing a birth centre were identified as: 'the best compromise available, 'the right and natural way' and 'the birth centre as safe'. Women had certain requirements of a birth centre that included: 'continuity of carer', 'midwife led', 'a sanctum from medicalised care', 'resources to cope with demand', 'close to home', and 'flexible guidelines and admission criteria'. Women weighed up a series of requirements when deciding whether to give birth in a birth centre. The recommendation by the MSR to expand birth centres and ignore home birth is at odds with the strong view expressed that 'everything should be on the menu'. The requirements women described of birth centre care are also at odds with current trends. If there is to be an expansion of birth centres, service

Laser writing of coherent colour centres in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yu-Chen; Salter, Patrick S.; Knauer, Sebastian; Weng, Laiyi; Frangeskou, Angelo C.; Stephen, Colin J.; Ishmael, Shazeaa N.; Dolan, Philip R.; Johnson, Sam; Green, Ben L.; Morley, Gavin W.; Newton, Mark E.; Rarity, John G.; Booth, Martin J.; Smith, Jason M.

2017-02-01

Optically active point defects in crystals have gained widespread attention as photonic systems that could be applied in quantum information technologies. However, challenges remain in the placing of individual defects at desired locations, an essential element of device fabrication. Here we report the controlled generation of single negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centres in diamond using laser writing. Aberration correction in the writing optics allows precise positioning of the vacancies within the diamond crystal, and subsequent annealing produces single NV- centres with a probability of success of up to 45 ± 15%, located within about 200 nm of the desired position in the transverse plane. Selected NV- centres display stable, coherent optical transitions at cryogenic temperatures, a prerequisite for the creation of distributed quantum networks of solid-state qubits. The results illustrate the potential of laser writing as a new tool for defect engineering in quantum technologies, and extend laser processing to the single-defect domain.

Cardiac patients' perception of patient-centred care: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Esmaeili, Maryam; Cheraghi, Mohammad A; Salsali, Mahvash

2016-03-01

The aim of this study was to explore cardiac patients' perception of patient-centred care. Despite patient's importance in the process of care, less attention has been paid to experiences and expectations of patients in definitions of patient-centred care. As patients are an important element in process of patient-centred care, organizing care programs according to their perceptions and expectations will lead to enhanced quality of care and greater patient satisfaction. This study is a descriptive qualitative study. Content analysis approach was performed for data analysis. Participants were 18 cardiac patients (10 women and 8 men) hospitalized in coronary care units of teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. We collected the study data through conducting personal face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The participants' perceptions of patient-centred care fell into three main themes including managing patients uncertainty, providing care with more flexibility and establishing a therapeutic communication. The second theme consisted of two sub-themes: empathizing with patients and having the right to make independent decisions. Receiving patient-centred care is essential for cardiac patients. Attention to priorities and preferences of cardiac patients and making decisions accordingly is among effective strategies for achieving patient-centred care. Cardiac care unit nurses ought to be aware that in spite of technological developments and advances, it is still important to pay attention to patients' needs and expectations in order to achieve patient satisfaction. In planning care programs, they should consider accountability towards patients' needs, flexibility in process of care and establishing medical interactions as an effective strategy for improving quality of care. © 2014 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Improved simulation of tropospheric ozone by a global-multi-regional two-way coupling model system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Yingying; Lin, Jintai; Chen, Jinxuan; Hu, Lu

2016-02-01

Small-scale nonlinear chemical and physical processes over pollution source regions affect the tropospheric ozone (O3), but these processes are not captured by current global chemical transport models (CTMs) and chemistry-climate models that are limited by coarse horizontal resolutions (100-500 km, typically 200 km). These models tend to contain large (and mostly positive) tropospheric O3 biases in the Northern Hemisphere. Here we use the recently built two-way coupling system of the GEOS-Chem CTM to simulate the regional and global tropospheric O3 in 2009. The system couples the global model (at 2.5° long. × 2° lat.) and its three nested models (at 0.667° long. × 0.5° lat.) covering Asia, North America and Europe, respectively. Specifically, the nested models take lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) from the global model, better capture small-scale processes and feed back to modify the global model simulation within the nested domains, with a subsequent effect on their LBCs. Compared to the global model alone, the two-way coupled system better simulates the tropospheric O3 both within and outside the nested domains, as found by evaluation against a suite of ground (1420 sites from the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory Global Monitoring Division (GMD), the Chemical Coordination Centre of European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality System (AQS)), aircraft (the High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER) Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) and Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In- Service Aircraft (MOZAIC)) and satellite measurements (two Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) products). The two-way coupled simulation enhances the correlation in day-to-day variation of afternoon mean surface O3 with the ground measurements

Climate change, humidity, and mortality in the United States

PubMed Central

Barreca, Alan I.

2014-01-01

This paper estimates the effects of humidity and temperature on mortality rates in the United States (c. 1973–2002) in order to provide an insight into the potential health impacts of climate change. I find that humidity, like temperature, is an important determinant of mortality. Coupled with Hadley CM3 climate-change predictions, I project that mortality rates are likely to change little on the aggregate for the United States. However, distributional impacts matter: mortality rates are likely to decline in cold and dry areas, but increase in hot and humid areas. Further, accounting for humidity has important implications for evaluating these distributional effects. PMID:25328254

Force-induced chemical reactions on the metal centre in a single metalloprotein molecule.

PubMed

Zheng, Peng; Arantes, Guilherme M; Field, Martin J; Li, Hongbin

2015-06-25

Metalloproteins play indispensable roles in biology owing to the versatile chemical reactivity of metal centres. However, studying their reactivity in many metalloproteins is challenging, as protein three-dimensional structure encloses labile metal centres, thus limiting their access to reactants and impeding direct measurements. Here we demonstrate the use of single-molecule atomic force microscopy to induce partial unfolding to expose metal centres in metalloproteins to aqueous solution, thus allowing for studying their chemical reactivity in aqueous solution for the first time. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate two chemical reactions for the FeS4 centre in rubredoxin: electrophilic protonation and nucleophilic ligand substitution. Our results show that protonation and ligand substitution result in mechanical destabilization of the FeS4 centre. Quantum chemical calculations corroborated experimental results and revealed detailed reaction mechanisms. We anticipate that this novel approach will provide insights into chemical reactivity of metal centres in metalloproteins under biologically more relevant conditions.

Force-induced chemical reactions on the metal centre in a single metalloprotein molecule

PubMed Central

Zheng, Peng; Arantes, Guilherme M.; Field, Martin J.; Li, Hongbin

2015-01-01

Metalloproteins play indispensable roles in biology owing to the versatile chemical reactivity of metal centres. However, studying their reactivity in many metalloproteins is challenging, as protein three-dimensional structure encloses labile metal centres, thus limiting their access to reactants and impeding direct measurements. Here we demonstrate the use of single-molecule atomic force microscopy to induce partial unfolding to expose metal centres in metalloproteins to aqueous solution, thus allowing for studying their chemical reactivity in aqueous solution for the first time. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate two chemical reactions for the FeS4 centre in rubredoxin: electrophilic protonation and nucleophilic ligand substitution. Our results show that protonation and ligand substitution result in mechanical destabilization of the FeS4 centre. Quantum chemical calculations corroborated experimental results and revealed detailed reaction mechanisms. We anticipate that this novel approach will provide insights into chemical reactivity of metal centres in metalloproteins under biologically more relevant conditions. PMID:26108369

Transitional and Transformational Spaces: Mentoring Young Academics through Writing Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archer, Arlene; Parker, Shabnam

2016-01-01

The effectiveness of writing centre interventions on student writing in higher education has been well-documented in academic literacies studies. This paper changes the focus of investigation from student to consultant and, consequently, explores the way in which an academic writing centre can function as a mentoring environment for young…

Leading an Effective Improvement and Development Programme for Children's Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston, Gill; Tyler, Mary

2015-01-01

This article reviews the process and achievements of leadership of an improvement and development programme for children's centres in the context of public value and Ofsted inspection. It analyses how the capacity has been developed of children's centre managers to work more strategically and collectively. Distributed leadership theory is applied…

Research Informed Science Enrichment Programs at the Gravity Discovery Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venville, Grady; Blair, David; Coward, David; Deshon, Fred; Gargano, Mark; Gondwe, Mzamose; Heary, Auriol; Longnecker, Nancy; Pitts, Marina; Zadnik, Marjan

2012-01-01

Excursions to museums and science centres generally are great fun for students and teachers. The potential educational benefits beyond enjoyment, however, are rarely realised or analysed for their efficacy. The purpose of this paper is to describe four educational enrichment programs delivered at the Gravity Discovery Centre (GDC), near Gingin,…

Comparison of three models of ownership of community health centres in China: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Wei, Xiaolin; Yang, Nan; Gao, Yang; Wong, Samuel Y S; Wong, Martin C S; Wang, Jiaji; Wang, Harry H X; Li, Donald K T; Tang, Jinling; Griffiths, Sian M

2015-07-01

Community health centres are the main form of provision of primary care in China. There are three models: government managed, hospital managed and private. Our aim was to describe and compare primary care under the three ownership models. Four aspects of primary care were studied: services, organization, financing and human resources. Interviews were undertaken with 60 managerial and professional staff in 13 community health centres in the Pearl River Delta region in 2010. Three community health centres were selected in the capital city and two were selected from each of the other five cities. Thematic framework analysis was conducted. Government-managed community health centres received the largest public funding, followed by hospital-managed community health centres, while private community health centres received the least. Private community health centres were the smallest in scale and provided lower quality public health services compared with the other two models. Patient out-of-pocket costs accounted for the majority of the revenue in all models of community health centres despite improved government funding for preventive services. General challenges such as the shortage of public funding, the exclusion of migrants in the funding for preventive services, low capacity in human resources and the separation of clinical and preventive care in community health centres were identified in all three models of community health centres. The ownership and management of a community health centre greatly influence the service it provides. Private community health centres are in a disadvantaged position to deliver high quality clinical and preventive care. © The Author(s) 2015.

Improving the layout of recycling centres by use of lean production principles.

PubMed

Sundin, Erik; Björkman, Mats; Eklund, Mats; Eklund, Jörgen; Engkvist, Inga-Lill

2011-06-01

There has been increased focus on recycling in Sweden during recent years. This focus can be attributed to external environmental factors such as tougher legislation, but also to the potential gains for raw materials suppliers. Recycling centres are important components in the Swedish total recycling system. Recycling centres are manned facilities for waste collection where visitors can bring, sort and discard worn products as well as large-sized, hazardous, and electrical waste. The aim of this paper was to identify and describe the main flows and layout types at Swedish recycling centres. The aim was also to adapt and apply production theory for designing and managing recycling centre operations. More specifically, this means using lean production principles to help develop guidelines for recycling centre design and efficient control. Empirical data for this research was primarily collected through interviews and questionnaires among both visitors and employees at 16 Swedish recycling centres. Furthermore, adapted observation protocols have been used in order to explore visitor activities. There was also close collaboration with a local recycling centre company, which shared their layout experiences with the researchers in this project. The recycling centres studied had a variety of problems such as queues of visitors, overloading of material and improper sorting. The study shows that in order to decrease the problems, the recycling centres should be designed and managed according to lean production principles, i.e. through choosing more suitable layout choices with visible and linear flows, providing better visitor information, and providing suitable technical equipment. Improvements can be achieved through proper planning of the layout and control of the flow of vehicles, with the result of increased efficiency and capacity, shorter visits, and cleaner waste fractions. The benefits of a lean production mindset include increased visitor capacity, waste

The Tehran Book Processing Centre.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, John F.

Establishment of the Tehran Book Processing Centre (Tebroc) was proposed in the Spring of 1968. This document is a descriptive and historical account of the center, and a description of its contributions to Iranian processing development. The center was modeled, to a certain extent, after Bro-Dart's Alanar in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Tebroc was…

Molecular Identification of Human Fungal Pathogens

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

reported this period: Drees M, Wickes BL, Gupta M, Hadley S. Lecythophora mutabilis prosthetic valve endocarditis in a diabetic patient. Med Mycol. (2007...Wickes BL, Gupta M, Hadley S. 2007. Lecythophora mutabilis prosthetic valve endocarditis in a diabetic patient. Med Mycol. 45:463-467. 9...information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713694156 Lecythophora mutabilis prosthetic valve endocarditis in a diabetic patient Marci

"Getting Practical" and the National Network of Science Learning Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Georgina; Langley, Mark; Skilling, Gus; Walker, John

2011-01-01

The national network of Science Learning Centres is a co-ordinating partner in the Getting Practical--Improving Practical Work in Science programme. The principle of training provision for the "Getting Practical" programme is a cascade model. Regional trainers employed by the national network of Science Learning Centres trained the cohort of local…

Examination and Evaluation of Websites of Science Centres in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozdogan, Aykut Emre; Bozdogan, Kerem

2016-01-01

Science centres which have a considerable importance and functions in developed countries are intended to be popularized in Turkey. At this point considering the fact that the first contact between science centres and visitors is usually provided with websites, it is quite important that the content of these websites should be designed and…

Developing a Partnership between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre and Charles Sturt University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boylan, Colin; Collin, Keith

2006-01-01

A collaborative partnership has evolved between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) and Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. The Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) is one of 24 Department of Education and Training environmental education centres in New South Wales (see www.reec.nsw.edu.au). As part of this…

A comparative concept analysis of centring vs. opening meditation processes in health care.

PubMed

Birx, Ellen

2013-08-01

To report an analysis and comparison of the concepts centring and opening meditation processes in health care. Centring and opening meditation processes are included in nursing theories and frequently recommended in health care for stress management. These meditation processes are integrated into emerging psychotherapy approaches and there is a rapidly expanding body of neuroscience research distinguishing brain activity associated with different types of meditation. Currently, there is a lack of theoretical and conceptual clarity needed to guide meditation research in health care. A search of healthcare literature between 2006-2011 was conducted using Alt HealthWatch, CINAHL, PsychNET and PubMed databases using the keywords 'centring' and 'opening' alone and in combination with the term 'meditation.' For the concept centring, 10 articles and 11 books and for the concept opening 13 articles and 10 books were included as data sources. Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis was used. Centring and opening are similar in that they both involve awareness in the present moment; both use a gentle, effortless approach; and both have a calming effect. Key differences include centring's focus on the individual's inner experience compared with the non-dual, spacious awareness of opening. Centring and opening are overlapping, yet distinct meditation processes. The term meditation cannot be used in a generic way in health care. The differences between centring and opening have important implications for the further development of unitary-transformative nursing theories. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Experiences of women who planned birth in a birth centre compared to alternative planned places of birth. Results of the Dutch Birth Centre Study.

PubMed

Hitzert, Marit; Hermus, Marieke A A; Scheerhagen, Marisja; Boesveld, Inge C; Wiegers, Therese A; van den Akker-van Marle, M Elske; van Dommelen, Paula; van der Pal-de Bruin, Karin M; de Graaf, Johanna P

2016-09-01

to assess the experiences with maternity care of women who planned birth in a birth centre and to compare them to alternative planned places of birth, by using the responsiveness concept of the World Health Organization. this study is a cross-sectional study using the ReproQ questionnaire filled out eight to ten weeks after birth. The primary outcome was responsiveness of birth care. Secondary outcomes included overall grades for birth care and experiences with the birth centre services. Regression analyses were performed to compare experiences among the planned places of birth. The study is part of the Dutch Birth Centre Study. the women were recruited by 82 midwifery practices in the Netherlands, within the study period 1 August 2013 and 31 December 2013. a total of 2162 women gave written consent to receive the questionnaire and 1181 (54.6%) women completed the questionnaire. women who planned to give birth at a birth centre: (1) had similar experiences as the women who planned to give birth in a hospital receiving care of a community midwife. (2) had significantly less favourable experiences than the women who planned to give birth at home. Differences during birth were seen on the domains dignity (OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.09-2.27) and autonomy (OR=1.77, 95% CI=1.25-2.51), during the postpartum period on the domains social considerations (OR=1.54, 95% CI=1.06-2.25) and choice and continuity (OR=1.43, 95% CI=1.00-2.03). (3) had significantly better experiences than the women who planned to give birth in a hospital under supervision of an obstetrician. Differences during birth were seen on the domains dignity (OR=0.51, 95% CI=0.31-0.81), autonomy (OR=0.59, 95% CI=0.35-1.00), confidentiality (OR=0.57, 95% CI=0.36-0.92) and social considerations (OR=0.47, 95% CI=0.28-0.79). During the postpartum period differences were seen on the domains dignity (OR=0.61, 95% CI=0.38-0.98), autonomy (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.31-0.85) and basic amenities (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.30-0.88). More than 80

Assuring measurement quality in person-centred healthcare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pendrill, L. R.

2018-03-01

Is it realistic to aspire to the same kind of quality-assurance of measurement in person-centred care, currently being implemented in healthcare globally, as is established in the physical sciences and engineering? Ensuring metrological comparability (‘traceability’) and reliably declaring measurement uncertainty when assessing patient ability or increased social capital are however challenging for subjective measurements often characterised by large dispersion. Drawing simple analogies between ‘instruments’ in the social sciences—questionnaires, ability tests, etc—and engineering instruments such as thermometers does not go far enough. A possible way forward, apparently equally applicable to both physical and social measurement, seems to be to model inferences in terms of performance metrics of a measurement system. Person-centred care needs person-centred measurement and a full picture of the measurement process when man acts as a measurement instrument is given in the present paper. This complements previous work by presenting the process, step by step, from the observed indication (e.g. probability of success, P success, of achieving a task), through restitution with Rasch measurement theory, to the measurand (e.g. task difficulty). Rasch invariant measure theory can yield quantities—‘latent’ (or ‘explanatory’) variables such as task challenge or person ability—with characteristics akin to those of physical quantities. Metrological references for comparability via traceability and reliable estimates of uncertainty and decision risks are then in reach even for perceptive measurements (and other qualitative properties). As a case study, the person-centred measurement of cognitive ability is examined, as part of the EU project EMPIR 15HLT04 NeuroMet, for Alzheimer’s, where better analysis of correlations with brain atrophy is enabled thanks to the Rasch metrological approach.

Bubble propagation in Hele-Shaw channels with centred constrictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco-Gómez, Andrés; Thompson, Alice B.; Hazel, Andrew L.; Juel, Anne

2018-04-01

We study the propagation of finite bubbles in a Hele-Shaw channel, where a centred occlusion (termed a rail) is introduced to provide a small axially uniform depth constriction. For bubbles wide enough to span the channel, the system’s behaviour is similar to that of semi-infinite fingers and a symmetric static solution is stable. Here, we focus on smaller bubbles, in which case the symmetric static solution is unstable and the static bubble is displaced towards one of the deeper regions of the channel on either side of the rail. Using a combination of experiments and numerical simulations of a depth-averaged model, we show that a bubble propagating axially due to a small imposed flow rate can be stabilised in a steady symmetric mode centred on the rail through a subtle interaction between stabilising viscous forces and destabilising surface tension forces. However, for sufficiently large capillary numbers Ca, the ratio of viscous to surface tension forces, viscous forces in turn become destabilising thus returning the bubble to an off-centred propagation regime. With decreasing bubble size, the range of Ca for which steady centred propagation is stable decreases, and eventually vanishes through the coalescence of two supercritical pitchfork bifurcations. The depth-averaged model is found to accurately predict all the steady modes of propagation observed experimentally, and provides a comprehensive picture of the underlying steady bifurcation structure. However, for sufficiently large imposed flow rates, we find that initially centred bubbles do not converge onto a steady mode of propagation. Instead they transiently explore weakly unstable steady modes, an evolution which results in their break-up and eventual settling into a steady propagating state of changed topology.

Active mode-locked operation of a diode pumped colour-centre laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazighi, K.; Doualan, J. L.; Hamel, J.; Margerie, J.; Mounier, D.; Ostrovsky, A.

1991-09-01

The cw laser diode pumping of an (F +2) ∗ colour centre laser has been recently demonstrated in our laboratory. The intensity of the pumping diode can easily be hf modulated. We present here the first experiments in which the colour centre laser is synchronously pumped at the mode spacing frequency, resulting in the emission of clean, regularly spaced pulses. The opto-electronic feedback is a very promising method of obtaining such a pulsed operation of a diode pumped colour centre laser without the use of an external hf oscillator.

Comparison of aerosol optical properties above clouds between POLDER and AeroCom models over the South East Atlantic Ocean during the fire season

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peers, F.; Bellouin, N.; Waquet, F.; Ducos, F.; Goloub, P.; Mollard, J.; Myhre, G.; Skeie, R. B.; Takemura, T.; Tanré, D.; Thieuleux, F.; Zhang, K.

2016-04-01

Aerosol properties above clouds have been retrieved over the South East Atlantic Ocean during the fire season 2006 using satellite observations from POLDER (Polarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances). From June to October, POLDER has observed a mean Above-Cloud Aerosol Optical Thickness (ACAOT) of 0.28 and a mean Above-Clouds Single Scattering Albedo (ACSSA) of 0.87 at 550 nm. These results have been used to evaluate the simulation of aerosols above clouds in five Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART), Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model 3 (HadGEM3), European Centre Hamburg Model 5-Hamburg Aerosol Module 2 (ECHAM5-HAM2), Oslo-Chemical Transport Model 2 (OsloCTM2), and Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS)). Most models do not reproduce the observed large aerosol load episodes. The comparison highlights the importance of the injection height and the vertical transport parameterizations to simulate the large ACAOT observed by POLDER. Furthermore, POLDER ACSSA is best reproduced by models with a high imaginary part of black carbon refractive index, in accordance with recent recommendations.

Identifying Centres of Plant Biodiversity in South Australia

PubMed Central

Guerin, Greg R.; Biffin, Ed; Baruch, Zdravko; Lowe, Andrew J.

2016-01-01

We aimed to identify regional centres of plant biodiversity in South Australia, a sub-continental land area of 983,482 km2, by mapping a suite of metrics. Broad-brush conservation issues associated with the centres were mapped, specifically climate sensitivity, exposure to habitat fragmentation, introduced species and altered fire regimes. We compiled 727,417 plant species records from plot-based field surveys and herbarium records and mapped the following: species richness (all species; South Australian endemics; conservation-dependent species; introduced species); georeferenced weighted endemism, phylogenetic diversity, georeferenced phylogenetic endemism; and measures of beta diversity at local and state-wide scales. Associated conservation issues mapped were: climate sensitivity measured via ordination and non-linear modelling; habitat fragmentation represented by the proportion of remnant vegetation within a moving window; fire prone landscapes assessed using fire history records; invasive species assessed through diversity metrics, species distribution and literature. Compared to plots, herbarium data had higher spatial and taxonomic coverage but records were more biased towards major transport corridors. Beta diversity was influenced by sampling intensity and scale of comparison. We identified six centres of high plant biodiversity for South Australia: Western Kangaroo Island; Southern Mount Lofty Ranges; Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands; Southern Flinders Ranges; Southern Eyre Peninsula; Lower South East. Species composition in the arid-mediterranean ecotone was the most climate sensitive. Fragmentation mapping highlighted the dichotomy between extensive land-use and high remnancy in the north and intensive land-use and low remnancy in the south. Invasive species were most species rich in agricultural areas close to population centres. Fire mapping revealed large variation in frequency across the state. Biodiversity scores were not always

Measurements of CP-conserving trilinear gauge boson couplings WWV (V≡ γ,Z) in e+e- collisions at LEP2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdallah, J.; Abreu, P.; Adam, W.; Adzic, P.; Albrecht, T.; Alemany-Fernandez, R.; Allmendinger, T.; Allport, P. P.; Amaldi, U.; Amapane, N.; Amato, S.; Anashkin, E.; Andreazza, A.; Andringa, S.; Anjos, N.; Antilogus, P.; Apel, W.-D.; Arnoud, Y.; Ask, S.; Asman, B.; Augustin, J. E.; Augustinus, A.; Baillon, P.; Ballestrero, A.; Bambade, P.; Barbier, R.; Bardin, D.; Barker, G. J.; Baroncelli, A.; Battaglia, M.; Baubillier, M.; Becks, K.-H.; Begalli, M.; Behrmann, A.; Ben-Haim, E.; Benekos, N.; Benvenuti, A.; Berat, C.; Berggren, M.; Bertrand, D.; Besancon, M.; Besson, N.; Bloch, D.; Blom, M.; Bluj, M.; Bonesini, M.; Boonekamp, M.; Booth, P. S. L.; Borisov, G.; Botner, O.; Bouquet, B.; Bowcock, T. J. V.; Boyko, I.; Bracko, M.; Brenner, R.; Brodet, E.; Bruckman, P.; Brunet, J. M.; Buschbeck, B.; Buschmann, P.; Calvi, M.; Camporesi, T.; Canale, V.; Carena, F.; Castro, N.; Cavallo, F.; Chapkin, M.; Charpentier, Ph.; Checchia, P.; Chierici, R.; Chliapnikov, P.; Chudoba, J.; Chung, S. U.; Cieslik, K.; Collins, P.; Contri, R.; Cosme, G.; Cossutti, F.; Costa, M. J.; Crennell, D.; Cuevas, J.; D'Hondt, J.; da Silva, T.; da Silva, W.; Della Ricca, G.; de Angelis, A.; de Boer, W.; de Clercq, C.; de Lotto, B.; de Maria, N.; de Min, A.; de Paula, L.; di Ciaccio, L.; di Simone, A.; Doroba, K.; Drees, J.; Eigen, G.; Ekelof, T.; Ellert, M.; Elsing, M.; Espirito Santo, M. C.; Fanourakis, G.; Fassouliotis, D.; Feindt, M.; Fernandez, J.; Ferrer, A.; Ferro, F.; Flagmeyer, U.; Foeth, H.; Fokitis, E.; Fulda-Quenzer, F.; Fuster, J.; Gandelman, M.; Garcia, C.; Gavillet, Ph.; Gazis, E.; Gokieli, R.; Golob, B.; Gomez-Ceballos, G.; Goncalves, P.; Graziani, E.; Grosdidier, G.; Grzelak, K.; Guy, J.; Haag, C.; Hallgren, A.; Hamacher, K.; Hamilton, K.; Haug, S.; Hauler, F.; Hedberg, V.; Hennecke, M.; Hoffman, J.; Holmgren, S.-O.; Holt, P. J.; Houlden, M. A.; Jackson, J. N.; Jarlskog, G.; Jarry, P.; Jeans, D.; Johansson, E. K.; Jonsson, P.; Joram, C.; Jungermann, L.; Kapusta, F.; Katsanevas, S.; Katsoufis, E.; Kernel, G.; Kersevan, B. P.; Kerzel, U.; King, B. T.; Kjaer, N. J.; Kluit, P.; Kokkinias, P.; Kostioukhine, V.; Kourkoumelis, C.; Kouznetsov, O.; Krumstein, Z.; Kucharczyk, M.; Lamsa, J.; Leder, G.; Ledroit, F.; Leinonen, L.; Leitner, R.; Lemonne, J.; Lepeltier, V.; Lesiak, T.; Libby, J.; Liebig, W.; Liko, D.; Lipniacka, A.; Lopes, J. H.; Lopez, J. M.; Loukas, D.; Lutz, P.; Lyons, L.; MacNaughton, J.; Malek, A.; Maltezos, S.; Mandl, F.; Marco, J.; Marco, R.; Marechal, B.; Margoni, M.; Marin, J.-C.; Mariotti, C.; Markou, A.; Martinez-Rivero, C.; Masik, J.; Mastroyiannopoulos, N.; Matorras, F.; Matteuzzi, C.; Mazzucato, F.; Mazzucato, M.; Mc Nulty, R.; Meroni, C.; Migliore, E.; Mitaroff, W.; Mjoernmark, U.; Moa, T.; Moch, M.; Moenig, K.; Monge, R.; Montenegro, J.; Moraes, D.; Moreno, S.; Morettini, P.; Mueller, U.; Muenich, K.; Mulders, M.; Mundim, L.; Murray, W.; Muryn, B.; Myatt, G.; Myklebust, T.; Nassiakou, M.; Navarria, F.; Nawrocki, K.; Nemecek, S.; Nicolaidou, R.; Nikolenko, M.; Oblakowska-Mucha, A.; Obraztsov, V.; Olshevski, A.; Onofre, A.; Orava, R.; Osterberg, K.; Ouraou, A.; Oyanguren, A.; Paganoni, M.; Paiano, S.; Palacios, J. P.; Palka, H.; Papadopoulou, Th. D.; Pape, L.; Parkes, C.; Parodi, F.; Parzefall, U.; Passeri, A.; Passon, O.; Peralta, L.; Perepelitsa, V.; Perrotta, A.; Petrolini, A.; Piedra, J.; Pieri, L.; Pierre, F.; Pimenta, M.; Piotto, E.; Podobnik, T.; Poireau, V.; Pol, M. E.; Polok, G.; Pozdniakov, V.; Pukhaeva, N.; Pullia, A.; Radojicic, D.; Rebecchi, P.; Rehn, J.; Reid, D.; Reinhardt, R.; Renton, P.; Richard, F.; Ridky, J.; Rivero, M.; Rodriguez, D.; Romero, A.; Ronchese, P.; Roudeau, P.; Rovelli, T.; Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.; Ryabtchikov, D.; Sadovsky, A.; Salmi, L.; Salt, J.; Sander, C.; Savoy-Navarro, A.; Schwickerath, U.; Sekulin, R.; Siebel, M.; Sisakian, A.; Smadja, G.; Smirnova, O.; Sokolov, A.; Sopczak, A.; Sosnowski, R.; Spassov, T.; Stanitzki, M.; Stocchi, A.; Strauss, J.; Stugu, B.; Szczekowski, M.; Szeptycka, M.; Szumlak, T.; Tabarelli, T.; Tegenfeldt, F.; Terranova, F.; Timmermans, J.; Tkatchev, L.; Tobin, M.; Todorovova, S.; Tome, B.; Tonazzo, A.; Tortosa, P.; Travnicek, P.; Treille, D.; Tristram, G.; Trochimczuk, M.; Troncon, C.; Turluer, M.-L.; Tyapkin, I. A.; Tyapkin, P.; Tzamarias, S.; Uvarov, V.; Valenti, G.; van Dam, P.; van Eldik, J.; van Lysebetten, A.; van Remortel, N.; van Vulpen, I.; Vegni, G.; Veloso, F.; Venus, W.; Verdier, P.; Verzi, V.; Vilanova, D.; Vitale, L.; Vrba, V.; Wahlen, H.; Washbrook, A. J.; Weiser, C.; Wicke, D.; Wickens, J.; Wilkinson, G.; Winter, M.; Witek, M.; Yushchenko, O.; Zalewska, A.; Zalewski, P.; Zavrtanik, D.; Zhuravlov, V.; Zimin, N. I.; Zintchenko, A.; Zupan, M.; DELPHI Collaboration

2010-03-01

The data taken by Delphi at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV are used to place limits on the CP-conserving trilinear gauge boson couplings Δ gZ1, λ γ and Δ κ γ associated to W + W - and single W production at Lep2. Using data from the jj ℓ ν, jjjj, jjX and ℓ X final states, where j, ℓ and X represent a jet, a lepton and missing four-momentum, respectively, the following limits are set on the couplings when one parameter is allowed to vary and the others are set to their Standard Model values of zero: begin{array}{l}Δ g^Z_1=-0.025^{+0.033}_{-0.030}, noalign{}λ_γ =0.002^{+0.035}_{-0.035}qquadand noalign{}Δkappa_γ =0.024^{+0.077}_{-0.081}. Results are also presented when two or three parameters are allowed to vary. All observations are consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model and supersede the previous results on these gauge coupling parameters published by Delphi.

Evaluation of telemedicine centres in Madhya Pradesh, Central India.

PubMed

Bali, Surya; Gupta, Arti; Khan, Asif; Pakhare, Abhijit

2016-04-01

In a developing country such as India, there is substantial inequality in health care distribution. Telemedicine facilities were established in Madhya Pradesh in 2007-2008. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the infrastructure, equipment, manpower, and functional status of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) telemedicine nodes in Madhya Pradesh. All district hospitals and medical colleges with nodes were visited by a team of three members. The study was conducted from December 2013-January 2014. The team recorded the structural facility situation and physical conditions on a predesigned pro forma. The team also conducted interviews with the nodal officers, data entry operator and other relevant people at these centres. Of the six specialist nodes, four were functional and two were non-functional. Of 10 patient nodes, two nodes were functional, four were semi-functional and four were non-functional. Most of the centres were not working due to a problem with their satellite modem. The overall condition of ISRO run telemedicine centres in Madhya Pradesh was found to be poor. Most of these centres failed to provide telemedicine consultations. We recommend replacing this system with another cost effective system available in the state wide area network (SWAN). We suggest the concept of the virtual out-patient department. © The Author(s) 2015.

Evaluation of the Training Centre Infrastructure Fund (TCIF). Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2009

2009-01-01

The Training Centre Infrastructure Fund (TCIF) was initially announced in Budget 2004 and represented an immediate measure of the broader Workplace Skills Strategy. TCIF was a three-year $25 million pilot project, designed to address the growing need for union-employer training centres to replace aging equipment and simulators that were not up to…

The UK Haemophilia Doctors Organisation triennial audit of UK Comprehensive Care Haemophilia Centres.

PubMed

Wilde, J T

2012-07-01

Under the auspices of the United Kingdom Haemophilia Doctors Organisation (UKHCDO) the UK Comprehensive Care Haemophilia Centres (CCCs) have undergone a three yearly formal audit assessment since 1993. This report describes the evolution of the audit process and details the findings of the most recent audit round, the sixth since inception. The audit reports from the 2009 audit round were reviewed by the audit organizing group and a structured analysis of the data was compiled. CCCs in the UK offer a high standard of comprehensive care services. The main areas of concern were the state of the premises (seven centres), lack of dental services (seven centres), physiotherapy (seven centres) and social work support (11 centres). Major concerns were identified at eight centres requiring a formal letter from the chairman of UKHCDO to the chief executive of the host trust. Since inception of the triennial audit process centre report recommendations have resulted in major improvements in the services available at UK CCCs. The audit process is considered to be a highly effective means of improving the quality of care for patients with bleeding disorders and can be used as a model for the introduction of a similar process in other countries. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Quick connect coupling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sprague, Benny B. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A coupling device has a transversely arranged, open-end groove in a flange attached to a pipe end. The groove in the flange receives a circumferentially arranged locking flange element on the other coupling member and permits alignment of the bores of the coupling members when the locking flange element is in the open end groove. Upon alignment of the bores of the coupling members, a trigger member is activated to automatically release a spring biased tubular member in one of the coupling members. The tubular member has a conical end which is displaced into the other coupling member to lock the coupling members to one another. A tensioning nut is threadedly movable on a coupling member so as to be moved into tightening engagement with the other coupling member.

First results of the Nordic and Baltic GNSS Analysis Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lahtinen, Sonja; Pasi, Häkli; Jivall, Lotti; Kempe, Christina; Kollo, Karin; Kosenko, Ksenija; Pihlak, Priit; Prizginiene, Dalia; Tangen, Oddvar; Weber, Mette; Paršeliūnas, Eimuntas; Baniulis, Rimvydas; Galinauskas, Karolis

2018-03-01

The Nordic Geodetic Commission (NKG) has launched a joint NKG GNSS Analysis Centre that aims to routinely produce high qualityGNSS solutions for the common needs of the NKG and the Nordic and Baltic countries. A consistent and densified velocity field is needed for the constraining of the gla-cial isostatic adjustment (GIA) modelling that is a key component of maintaining the national reference frame realisations in the area. We described the methods of the NKG GNSS Analysis Centre including the defined processing setup for the local analysis centres (LAC) and for the combination centres.We analysed the results of the first 2.5 years (2014.5-2016). The results showed that different subnets were consistent with the combined solution within 1-2 mm level. We observed the so called network effect affecting our reference frame alignment. However, the accuracy of the reference frame alignment was on a few millimetre level in the area of the main interest (Nordic and Baltic Countries). TheNKGGNSS AC was declared fully operational in April 2017.

Person-centred Leadership: a relational approach to leadership derived through action research.

PubMed

Cardiff, Shaun; McCormack, Brendan; McCance, Tanya

2018-04-21

How does person-centred leadership manifest in clinical nursing. Person-centred practice fosters healthful relationships and is gaining increasing attention in nursing and healthcare, but nothing is known about the influence of a person-centred approach to leadership practice. Most leadership models used in nursing were originally developed outside of nursing. A three year participatory action research study where participant leaders planned, researched and learned from their practice development. After an orientation phase, four action spirals focused on: critical and creative reflective inquiries into leadership practice change; leading the implementation and evaluation of a new nursing system; facilitating storytelling sessions with staff and annually reflecting on personal leadership change. Multiple data gathering methods offered insight into leadership development from several perspectives. Critical and creative thematic data analysis revealed a set of attributes, relational processes and contextual factors that influenced the being and becoming of a person-centred leader. Comparing the findings with nursing leadership literature supports a conceptual framework for person-centred leadership. Person-centred leadership is a complex, dynamic, relational and contextualised practice that aims to enable associates and leaders achieve self-actualisation, empowerment and wellbeing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Lunar Roving Vehicle photographed against lunar background during EVA

NASA Image and Video Library

1971-08-01

AS15-88-11901 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is photographed alone against the desolate lunar background during the third Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. This view is looking north. The west edge of Mount Hadley is at the upper right edge of the picture. Mount Hadley rises approximately 4,500 meters (about 4,765 feet) above the plain. The most distant lunar feature visible is approximately 25 kilometers (about 15.5 statute miles) away. While astronauts David R. Scott, commander; and James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Falcon" to explore the moon, astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit.

Differences in care burden of patients undergoing dialysis in different centres in the netherlands.

PubMed

de Kleijn, Ria; Uyl-de Groot, Carin; Hagen, Chris; Diepenbroek, Adry; Pasker-de Jong, Pieternel; Ter Wee, Piet

2017-06-01

A classification model was developed to simplify planning of personnel at dialysis centres. This model predicted the care burden based on dialysis characteristics. However, patient characteristics and different dialysis centre categories might also influence the amount of care time required. To determine if there is a difference in care burden between different categories of dialysis centres and if specific patient characteristics predict nursing time needed for patient treatment. An observational study. Two hundred and forty-two patients from 12 dialysis centres. In 12 dialysis centres, nurses filled out the classification list per patient and completed a form with patient characteristics. Nephrologists filled out the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Independent observers clocked the time nurses spent on separate steps of the dialysis for each patient. Dialysis centres were categorised into four types. Data were analysed using regression models. In contrast to other dialysis centres, academic centres needed 14 minutes more care time per patient per dialysis treatment than predicted in the classification model. No patient characteristics were found that influenced this difference. The only patient characteristic that predicted the time required was gender, with more time required to treat women. Gender did not affect the difference between measured and predicted care time. Differences in care burden were observed between academic and other centres, with more time required for treatment in academic centres. Contribution of patient characteristics to the time difference was minimal. The only patient characteristics that predicted care time were previous transplantation, which reduced the time required, and gender, with women requiring more care time. © 2017 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.

Girls' Groups and Boys' Groups at a Municipal Technology Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salminen-Karlsson, Minna

2007-01-01

This article describes the Swedish initiative of municipal technology centres from a gender point of view. These centres provide after-school technology education for children aged 6-16. By means of an ethnographic study, the effects of the use of single-sex groups in increasing the interest of girls and boys in technical activities have been…

Is trauma centre care helpful for less severely injured patients?

PubMed

Helling, Thomas S; Nelson, Paul W; Moore, B Todd; Kintigh, Denise; Lainhart, Kathy

2005-11-01

Trauma centres have been shown to reduce the number of preventable deaths from serious injuries. This is due largely to the rapid response of surgeons and health care teams to resuscitate, evaluate, and operate if necessary. Less is known about the effectiveness of trauma centre care on those patients who have not incurred immediate life-threatening problems and may not be as critically injured. The purpose of this study was to review the use of physician and hospital resources for this patient population to determine whether trauma team and trauma centre care is helpful or even needed. This was a retrospective study of consecutive trauma patients (n=1592) admitted from 1998 to 2002 to the trauma service of an urban level I trauma centre and recorded in the hospital trauma registry. Patients were triaged in a tiered response to more or less severely injured. All patients' care was directed by trauma surgeons. Of the 1592 patients, 398 (25%) received a full trauma team response (Class I), 1194 were less seriously injured (Class II). The ISS for the Class I patients was 19+/-18 and for Class II patients 10+/-10. Nineteen percent of Class II patients had an ISS>15. Overall mortality in Class II patients was 2% including 20 unexpected deaths. Four hundred and three Class II patients (34%) had multisystem injuries. Of the Class II patients 423 (35%) were sent to the ICU or OR from the ED, 106 of whom required an immediate operation and 345 required an operation prior to discharge. Complications developed in 129 patients (11%), the majority of which were pulmonary. A large proportion of those patients thought initially to be less severely injured required resources available in a trauma centre, including specialty care, intensive care, and operating room accessibility. Over one-third of these patients had multisystem injuries and almost 20% were considered major trauma, needing prioritisation of care and expertise ideally found in a trauma centre environment

Ancient deuterostome origins of vertebrate brain signalling centres.

PubMed

Pani, Ariel M; Mullarkey, Erin E; Aronowicz, Jochanan; Assimacopoulos, Stavroula; Grove, Elizabeth A; Lowe, Christopher J

2012-03-14

Neuroectodermal signalling centres induce and pattern many novel vertebrate brain structures but are absent, or divergent, in invertebrate chordates. This has led to the idea that signalling-centre genetic programs were first assembled in stem vertebrates and potentially drove morphological innovations of the brain. However, this scenario presumes that extant cephalochordates accurately represent ancestral chordate characters, which has not been tested using close chordate outgroups. Here we report that genetic programs homologous to three vertebrate signalling centres-the anterior neural ridge, zona limitans intrathalamica and isthmic organizer-are present in the hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii. Fgf8/17/18 (a single gene homologous to vertebrate Fgf8, Fgf17 and Fgf18), sfrp1/5, hh and wnt1 are expressed in vertebrate-like arrangements in hemichordate ectoderm, and homologous genetic mechanisms regulate ectodermal patterning in both animals. We propose that these genetic programs were components of an unexpectedly complex, ancient genetic regulatory scaffold for deuterostome body patterning that degenerated in amphioxus and ascidians, but was retained to pattern divergent structures in hemichordates and vertebrates. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Teaching clinical skills in developing countries: are clinical skills centres the answer?

PubMed

Stark, Patsy; Fortune, F

2003-11-01

There is growing international interest in teaching clinical skills in a variety of contexts, one of which is Clinical Skills Centres. The drivers for change making Skills Centres an important adjunct to ward and ambulatory teaching come both from within and outside medical education. Educationally, self-directed learning is becoming the accepted norm, encouraging students to seek and maximize learning opportunities. There are global changes in health care practice, increased consumerism and increasing student numbers. In some countries, professional recommendations influence what is taught. Increasingly, core skills curricula and outcome objectives are being defined. This explicit definition encourages assessment of the core skills. In turn, all students require equal opportunities to learn how to practise the skills safely and competently. The moves towards interprofessional education make joint learning in a"neutral" setting, like a Clinical Skills Centre, appear particularly attractive. To discuss the potential role of Clinical Skills Centres in skills training in developing countries and to consider alternative options. Many developing countries seek to establish Clinical Skills Centres to ensure effective and reliable skills teaching. However, the model may not be appropriate,because fully equipped Clinical Skills Centres are expensive to set up, staff; and run. They are not the only way to achieve high quality clinical teaching. Suggested options are based on the philosophy and teaching methods successfully developed in Clinical Skills Centres that may fulfil the local needs to achieve low cost and high quality clinical teaching which is reflective of the local health needs and cultural expectations.

Using the Model Coupling Toolkit to couple earth system models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, J.C.; Perlin, N.; Skyllingstad, E.D.

2008-01-01

Continued advances in computational resources are providing the opportunity to operate more sophisticated numerical models. Additionally, there is an increasing demand for multidisciplinary studies that include interactions between different physical processes. Therefore there is a strong desire to develop coupled modeling systems that utilize existing models and allow efficient data exchange and model control. The basic system would entail model "1" running on "M" processors and model "2" running on "N" processors, with efficient exchange of model fields at predetermined synchronization intervals. Here we demonstrate two coupled systems: the coupling of the ocean circulation model Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to the surface wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN), and the coupling of ROMS to the atmospheric model Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Prediction System (COAMPS). Both coupled systems use the Model Coupling Toolkit (MCT) as a mechanism for operation control and inter-model distributed memory transfer of model variables. In this paper we describe requirements and other options for model coupling, explain the MCT library, ROMS, SWAN and COAMPS models, methods for grid decomposition and sparse matrix interpolation, and provide an example from each coupled system. Methods presented in this paper are clearly applicable for coupling of other types of models. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global land-atmosphere coupling associated with cold climate processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutra, Emanuel

This dissertation constitutes an assessment of the role of cold processes, associated with snow cover, in controlling the land-atmosphere coupling. The work was based on model simulations, including offline simulations with the land surface model HTESSEL, and coupled atmosphere simulations with the EC-EARTH climate model. A revised snow scheme was developed and tested in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH. The snow scheme is currently operational at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts integrated forecast system, and in the default configuration of EC-EARTH. The improved representation of the snowpack dynamics in HTESSEL resulted in improvements in the near surface temperature simulations of EC-EARTH. The new snow scheme development was complemented with the option of multi-layer version that showed its potential in modeling thick snowpacks. A key process was the snow thermal insulation that led to significant improvements of the surface water and energy balance components. Similar findings were observed when coupling the snow scheme to lake ice, where lake ice duration was significantly improved. An assessment on the snow cover sensitivity to horizontal resolution, parameterizations and atmospheric forcing within HTESSEL highlighted the role of the atmospheric forcing accuracy and snowpack parameterizations in detriment of horizontal resolution over flat regions. A set of experiments with and without free snow evolution was carried out with EC-EARTH to assess the impact of the interannual variability of snow cover on near surface and soil temperatures. It was found that snow cover interannual variability explained up to 60% of the total interannual variability of near surface temperature over snow covered regions. Although these findings are model dependent, the results showed consistency with previously published work. Furthermore, the detailed validation of the snow dynamics simulations in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH guarantees consistency of the results.

Coupled assimilation for an intermediated coupled ENSO prediction model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Fei; Zhu, Jiang

2010-10-01

The value of coupled assimilation is discussed using an intermediate coupled model in which the wind stress is the only atmospheric state which is slavery to model sea surface temperature (SST). In the coupled assimilation analysis, based on the coupled wind-ocean state covariance calculated from the coupled state ensemble, the ocean state is adjusted by assimilating wind data using the ensemble Kalman filter. As revealed by a series of assimilation experiments using simulated observations, the coupled assimilation of wind observations yields better results than the assimilation of SST observations. Specifically, the coupled assimilation of wind observations can help to improve the accuracy of the surface and subsurface currents because the correlation between the wind and ocean currents is stronger than that between SST and ocean currents in the equatorial Pacific. Thus, the coupled assimilation of wind data can decrease the initial condition errors in the surface/subsurface currents that can significantly contribute to SST forecast errors. The value of the coupled assimilation of wind observations is further demonstrated by comparing the prediction skills of three 12-year (1997-2008) hindcast experiments initialized by the ocean-only assimilation scheme that assimilates SST observations, the coupled assimilation scheme that assimilates wind observations, and a nudging scheme that nudges the observed wind stress data, respectively. The prediction skills of two assimilation schemes are significantly better than those of the nudging scheme. The prediction skills of assimilating wind observations are better than assimilating SST observations. Assimilating wind observations for the 2007/2008 La Niña event triggers better predictions, while assimilating SST observations fails to provide an early warning for that event.

Antimicrobial resistance pattern of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from peripheral health centres and STD clinic attendees of a tertiary care centre in India.

PubMed

Bala, M; Ray, K; Gupta, S M

2008-06-01

The aim of the study was to compare the antimicrobial resistance pattern of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from urban and rural peripheral health centres and from sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic attendees. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 191 N. gonorrhoeae isolates (165 isolates from STD clinic attendees and 26 from peripheral health centres) was carried out in Delhi, India, using the calibrated dichotomous sensitivity technique for penicillin, tetracycline, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin and nalidixic acid, and minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined using E-test. Penicillin-resistant, ciprofloxacin-resistant, penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae and tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains were higher in STD clinic attendees than in peripheral health centres, probably because of less antibiotic pressure in the peripheral areas. High-level resistance to ciprofloxacin and multiresistant strains were also higher in STD clinic attendees. The present study emphasizes the importance of surveillance of antimicrobial resistance of N. gonorrhoeae in different population subgroups in order to monitor the spread of multiresistant strains and to update the national treatment recommendations.

Discrepancies Between Prototype International Data Centre, International Seismological Centre & USGS Seismic Magnitudes

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

International Seismological C -DTRA 01-00-C-0074 Centre & USGS Seismic Magnitudes PE - 462D PR- AE TA - EJ 6. AUTHOR(S) WU - DH0203 9 Paul G. Richards, John P...Defense Threat Reduction Agency 8725 John J. Kingman Road, MS 6201 "a Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6201 ’ DTRA-TR-06-15 Discrepancies Between Prototype...0 Z March 2007 "I 20070420395 Li DTRA 01 -00-C-0074 M Paul G. Richards, et al. Prepared by: Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory 61

The 1997/98 El Nino: A Test for Climate Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, R; Dong, B; Cess, R D

Version 3 of the Hadley Centre Atmospheric Model (HadAM3) has been used to demonstrate one means of comparing a general circulation model with observations for a specific climate perturbation, namely the strong 1997/98 El Nino. This event was characterized by the collapse of the tropical Pacific's Walker circulation, caused by the lack of a zonal sea surface temperature gradient during the El Nino. Relative to normal years, cloud altitudes were lower in the western portion of the Pacific and higher in the eastern portion. HadAM3 likewise produced the observed collapse of the Walker circulation, and it did a reasonable jobmore » of reproducing the west/east cloud structure changes. This illustrates that the 1997/98 El Nino serves as a useful means of testing cloud-climate interactions in climate models.« less

Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of person-centred care in different healthcare contexts.

PubMed

Moore, Lucy; Britten, Nicky; Lydahl, Doris; Naldemirci, Öncel; Elam, Mark; Wolf, Axel

2017-12-01

To empower patients and improve the quality of care, policy-makers increasingly adopt systems to enhance person-centred care. Although models of person-centredness and patient-centredness vary, respecting the needs and preferences of individuals receiving care is paramount. In Sweden, as in other countries, healthcare providers seek to improve person-centred principles and address gaps in practice. Consequently, researchers at the University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care are currently delivering person-centred interventions employing a framework that incorporates three routines. These include eliciting the patient's narrative, agreeing a partnership with shared goals between patient and professional, and safeguarding this through documentation. To explore the barriers and facilitators to the delivery of person-centred care interventions, in different contexts. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 18 researchers from seven research studies across contrasting healthcare settings. Interviews were transcribed, translated and thematically analysed, adopting some basic features of grounded theory. The ethical code of conduct was followed and conformed to the ethical guidelines adopted by the Swedish Research Council. Barriers to the implementation of person-centred care covered three themes: traditional practices and structures; sceptical, stereotypical attitudes from professionals; and factors related to the development of person-centred interventions. Facilitators included organisational factors, leadership and training and an enabling attitude and approach by professionals. Trained project managers, patients taking an active role in research and adaptive strategies by researchers all helped person-centred care delivery. At the University of Gothenburg, a model of person-centred care is being initiated and integrated into practice through research. Knowledgeable, well-trained professionals facilitate the routines of narrative

Gay and lesbian couples in Italy: comparisons with heterosexual couples.

PubMed

Antonelli, Paolo; Dèttore, Davide; Lasagni, Irene; Snyder, Douglas K; Balderrama-Durbin, Christina

2014-12-01

Assessing couple relationships across diverse languages and cultures has important implications for both clinical intervention and prevention. This is especially true for nontraditional relationships potentially subject to various expressions of negative societal evaluation or bias. Few empirically validated measures of relationship functioning have been developed for cross-cultural applications, and none have been examined for their psychometric sufficiency for evaluating same-sex couples across different languages and cultures. The current study examined the psychometric properties of an Italian translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory - Revised (MSI-R), a 150-item 13-scale measure of couple relationship functioning, for its use in assessing the intimate relationships of gay and lesbian couples in Italy. Results for these couples were compared to data from heterosexual married and unmarried cohabiting couples from the same geographical region, as well as to previously published data for gay, lesbian, and unmarried heterosexual couples from the United States. Findings suggest that, despite unique societal pressures confronting Italian same-sex couples, these relationships appear resilient and fare well both overall and in specific domains of functioning compared to heterosexual couples both in Italy and the United States. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

From gene to structure: The protein factory of the NBICS Centre of Kurchatov Institute

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boyko, K. M.; Lipkin, A. V.; Popov, V. O., E-mail: vpopov@inbi.ras.ru

2013-05-15

The Protein Factory was established at the Centre for Nano, Bio, Info, Cognitive, and Social Sciences and Technologies (NBICS Centre) of the National Research Centre 'Kurchatov Institute' in 2010. The Protein Factory, together with the Centre for Synchrotron Radiation and Nanotechnology, promote research on structural biology. This paper presents the technology platforms developed at the Protein Factory and the facilities available for researchers. The main projects currently being performed at the Protein Factory are briefly described.

Observation and control of blinking nitrogen-vacancy centres in discrete nanodiamonds.

PubMed

Bradac, C; Gaebel, T; Naidoo, N; Sellars, M J; Twamley, J; Brown, L J; Barnard, A S; Plakhotnik, T; Zvyagin, A V; Rabeau, J R

2010-05-01

Nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond can undergo strong, spin-sensitive optical transitions under ambient conditions, which makes them attractive for applications in quantum optics, nanoscale magnetometry and biolabelling. Although nitrogen-vacancy centres have been observed in aggregated detonation nanodiamonds and milled nanodiamonds, they have not been observed in very small isolated nanodiamonds. Here, we report the first direct observation of nitrogen-vacancy centres in discrete 5-nm nanodiamonds at room temperature, including evidence for intermittency in the luminescence (blinking) from the nanodiamonds. We also show that it is possible to control this blinking by modifying the surface of the nanodiamonds.

The closer 'We' are, the stronger 'I' am: the impact of couple identity on cancer coping self-efficacy.

PubMed

Ahmad, Saunia; Fergus, Karen; Shatokhina, Kristina; Gardner, Sandra

2017-06-01

The present study tested the supposition that greater levels of couple identity (or we-ness) increase a woman's coping self-efficacy in relation to breast cancer, which, in turn, predicts better psychosocial adjustment. Women (N = 112) in committed relationships completed surveys assessing their levels of couple identity, cancer coping self-efficacy, and aspects of their psychosocial adjustment (specifically, depression, anxiety and functional well-being) during one of their outpatient visits to the cancer centre. As predicted, the more women identified with their relationships, the lower their levels of depression and anxiety were and the greater their functional well-being was. This relationship was mediated by coping self-efficacy: greater identification with one's relationship predicted greater confidence in one's ability to cope, which, in turn, predicted better adjustment. The role intimate relationships play in women's adjustment to breast cancer, as well as directions for further research, are discussed.

Human-centred approaches in slipperiness measurement

PubMed Central

Grönqvist, Raoul; Abeysekera, John; Gard, Gunvor; Hsiang, Simon M.; Leamon, Tom B.; Newman, Dava J.; Gielo-Perczak, Krystyna; Lockhart, Thurmon E.; Pai, Clive Y.-C.

2010-01-01

A number of human-centred methodologies—subjective, objective, and combined—are used for slipperiness measurement. They comprise a variety of approaches from biomechanically-oriented experiments to psychophysical tests and subjective evaluations. The objective of this paper is to review some of the research done in the field, including such topics as awareness and perception of slipperiness, postural and balance control, rating scales for balance, adaptation to slippery conditions, measurement of unexpected movements, kinematics of slipping, and protective movements during falling. The role of human factors in slips and falls will be discussed. Strengths and weaknesses of human-centred approaches in relation to mechanical slip test methodologies are considered. Current friction-based criteria and thresholds for walking without slipping are reviewed for a number of work tasks. These include activities such as walking on a level or an inclined surface, running, stopping and jumping, as well as stair ascent and descent, manual exertion (pushing and pulling, load carrying, lifting) and particular concerns of the elderly and mobility disabled persons. Some future directions for slipperiness measurement and research in the field of slips and falls are outlined. Human-centred approaches for slipperiness measurement do have many applications. First, they are utilized to develop research hypotheses and models to predict workplace risks caused by slipping. Second, they are important alternatives to apparatus-based friction measurements and are used to validate such methodologies. Third, they are used as practical tools for evaluating and monitoring slip resistance properties of foot wear, anti-skid devices and floor surfaces. PMID:11794763

Ascertainment bias in dementias: a secondary to tertiary centre analysis in Central Italy and conceptual review.

PubMed

Bonanni, L; Bontempo, G; Borrelli, I; Bifolchetti, S; Buongarzone, M P; Carlesi, N; Carolei, A; Ciccocioppo, F; Colangelo, U; Colonna, G; Desiderio, M; Ferretti, S; Fiorelli, L; D'Alessio, O; D'Amico, A; D'Amico, M C; De Lucia, R; Del Re, L; Di Blasio, F; Di Giacomo, R; Di Iorio, A; Di Santo, E; Di Giuseppe, M; Felice, N; Litterio, P; Gabriele, A; Mancino, E; Manzoli, L; Maruotti, V; Mearelli, S; Molino, G; Monaco, D; Nuccetelli, F; Onofrj, M; Perfetti, B; Sacchet, C; Sensi, F; Sensi, S; Sucapane, P; Taylor, J P; Thomas, A; Viola, P; Viola, S; Zito, M; Zhuzhuni, H

2013-06-01

Ascertainment bias (AB) indicates a bias of an evaluation centre in estimating the prevalence/incidence of a disease due to the specific expertise of the centre. The aim of our study was to evaluate classification of different types of dementia in new cases appearing in secondary and tertiary centres, in order to evidence possible occurrence of AB in the various (secondary to tertiary) dementia centres. To assess the mechanism of AB, the rates of new cases of the different forms of dementia reported by different centres were compared. The centres involved in the study were 11 hospital-based centres including a tertiary centre, located in the University Department of Clinical Neurology. The tertiary centre is endowed with state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities and its scientific production is prominently focused on dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) thus suggesting the possible occurrence of a bias. Four main categories of dementia were identified: Alzheimer's disease (AD), DLB, fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), vascular dementia (VaD), with other forms in a category apart. The classification rate of new cases of dementia in the tertiary centre was compared with rates reported by secondary centres and rates of recoding were calculated during a follow-up of 2 years. The study classified 2,042 newly diagnosed cases of dementia in a population of 1,370,000 inhabitants of which 315,000 were older than 65. AD was categorized in 48-52 % of cases, DLB in 25-28 %, FTD in 2-4 % and VaD in 17-28 %. During the 2-year follow-up the diagnosis was re-classified in 40 patients (3 %). The rate of recoding was 5 % in the tertiary centre, 2-8 % in referrals from secondary to tertiary centre, 2-10 % in recodings performed in secondary centres and addressed to tertiary centre. Recoding or percentages of new cases of AD or DLB were not different in the comparison between secondary or between secondary and tertiary centres. FTD and VaD were instead significantly recoded. The results

Developing substance misuse services in United Arab Emirates: the National Rehabilitation Centre experience

PubMed Central

Al Ghaferi, Hamad A.; Ali, Ahmed Y.; Gawad, Tarek A.

2017-01-01

In 2001 a directive was issued to establish the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) to deal with the growing problem of substance misuse in the United Arab Emirates. The NRC has achieved many goals as a treatment and rehabilitation facility as well as a drug and alcohol demand reduction response centre. It is now working towards being an international centre of excellence. PMID:29093960

Institutional profile: the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

PubMed

Weston, David; Bontoux, Thierry

2009-12-01

Located in the London neighborhoods of Bloomsbury and South Kensington, the London Centre for Nanotechnology is a UK-based multidisciplinary research center that operates at the forefront of science and technology. It is a joint venture between two of the world's leading institutions, UCL and Imperial College London, uniting their strong capabilities in the disciplines that underpin nanotechnology: engineering, the physical sciences and biomedicine. The London Centre for Nanotechnology has a unique operating model that accesses and focuses the combined skills of the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Materials, Medicine, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering and Earth Sciences across the two universities. It aims to provide the nanoscience and nanotechnology required to solve major problems in healthcare, information processing, energy and the environment.

Industry Restructuring: Extracts from Centre Publications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, William C., Ed.

This document contains excerpts from material previously published by Australia's TAFE (Technical and Further Education) National Centre for Research and Development on the subjects of industry restructuring, the reasons for restructuring, revising curricula, and providing a service to business and industry. Its contents are "Industry…

Person-centred care during prolonged weaning from mechanical ventilation, nurses' views: an interview study.

PubMed

Cederwall, Carl-Johan; Olausson, Sepideh; Rose, Louise; Naredi, Silvana; Ringdal, Mona

2018-06-01

To determine: 1) if the three elements of person-centred care (initiating, working and safeguarding the partnership) were present, and 2) to identify evidence of barriers to person-centred care during prolonged weaning from mechanical ventilation. Secondary analysis of semi structured interviews with 19 critical care nurses using theoretical thematic analysis. This study was conducted in three Swedish intensive care units, one in a regional hospital and two in a university hospital. Three themes and nine subthemes related to person-centred care were identified. The three themes included: 1) 'finding a person behind the patient' related to the 'initiating the partnership' phase, 2) 'striving to restore patient́s sense of control' related to 'working the partnership' phase and 3) 'impact of patient involvement' related to 'safeguarding the partnership' phase of person-centred care'. Additionally a further theme 'barriers to person-centred care' was identified. We found evidence of all three person-centred care routines. Barriers to person-centred care comprised of lack team collaboration and resources. Facilitating patients to actively participate in decision-making during the weaning process may optimise weaning outcomes and warrants further research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity. Monitoring the European drug situation: the ongoing challenge for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

PubMed

Griffiths, Paul; Mounteney, Jane; Lopez, Dominique; Zobel, Frank; Götz, Wolfgang

2012-02-01

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is the designated hub for drug-related information in the European Union. The organization's role is to provide the European Union (EU) and its Member States with a factual overview of European drug problems and a common information framework to support the drugs debate. In order to achieve its mission, the EMCDDA coordinates and relies on a network of 30 national monitoring centres, the Reitox National Focal Points. The Centre publishes on a wide range of drug-related topics, across epidemiology, interventions, laws and policies. Every November, the EMCDDA publishes its Annual Report, providing a yearly update on the European drug situation, translated into 23 EU languages. In line with its founding regulation, the EMCDDA has a role acting as an interface between the worlds of science and policy. While not a research centre in the formal sense, the results the Centre generates serve as catalysts for new research questions and help to identify priorities. Current challenges facing the agency include continuing to increase scientific standards while maintaining a strong institutional role, as well as supporting European efforts to identify, share and codify best practice in the drugs field. © 2011 EMCDDA.

The Isis Centre: a counselling service within the National Health Service.

PubMed Central

Agulnik, P; Holroyd, P; Mandelbrote, B

1976-01-01

A new centre has been established to provide readily accessible counselling, consultation, and mental health information. People may refer themselves or are recommended to attend by general practitioners or other agencies. The counsellors have varied backgrounds in paramedical or counselling services, and they are supported by psychiatrists. Of a sample of 100 clients, four were referred to one of the team's psychiatrists and 33 visited the centre only once. The centre's staff aim to adopt a flexible approach to the client and his problems, and formal psychiatric categories have not been found useful. Provision is made for people who want to solve their problems by discussion rather than medication and those for whom the existing psychiatric services may have little time to spare. Consequently, the approach adopted by the Isis Centre, whereby many people benefit from psychotherapy yet the psychiatrist deals directly with only a few selected cases, contributes towards meeting the great need for psychiatric services and using the psychiatrist's skills more effectively. PMID:947421

Behaviorally-based couple therapies reduce emotional arousal during couple conflict.

PubMed

Baucom, Brian R; Sheng, Elisa; Christensen, Andrew; Georgiou, Panayiotis G; Narayanan, Shrikanth S; Atkins, David C

2015-09-01

Emotional arousal during relationship conflict is a major target for intervention in couple therapies. The current study examines changes in conflict-related emotional arousal in 104 couples that participated in a randomized clinical trial of two behaviorally-based couple therapies. Emotional arousal is measured using mean fundamental frequency of spouse's speech, and changes in emotional arousal from pre-to post-therapy are examined using multilevel models. Overall emotional arousal, the rate of increase in emotional arousal at the beginning of conflict, and the duration of emotional arousal declined for all couples. Reductions in overall arousal were stronger for TBCT wives than for IBCT wives but not significantly different for IBCT and TBCT husbands. Reductions in the rate of initial arousal were larger for TBCT couples than IBCT couples. Reductions in duration were larger for IBCT couples than TBCT couples. These findings suggest that both therapies can reduce emotional arousal, but that the two therapies create different kinds of change in emotional arousal. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generation of (F+2)_AH Centres in Sodium Ion Doped KCl:CO^{2-3}

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaf, M.; Chihi, I.; Hamaïdia, A.; Akrmi, El.

1996-01-01

We demonstrate that (F+2)AH centres of KCl may be obtained from crystals doped with K{2}CO{3} and NaCl, grown by the Czochralski method in open atmosphere. The optical properties of (F+2)AH centres thus produced are exactly the same as those of (F+2)AH centres prepared by the usual technique, which involves superoxide doping and a controlled atmosphere. Nous montrons que les centres (F+2)AH de KCl peuvent être obtenus à partir de cristaux dopés par K{2}CO{3} et NaCl, fabriqués par la méthode de Czochralski à l'air libre. Les propriétés optiques des centres (F+2)AH ainsi produits sont exactement les mêmes que celles des centres (F+2)AH préparés par la technique habituelle, qui comporte le dopage par un superoxyde et l'emploi d'une atmosphère contrôlée.

[Creation of centres in high-volume hospitals -- promotor of communication].

PubMed

Möbius, C; Schumacher, G

2013-02-01

The number of patients with a diagnosis of cancer is alarming: according to new figures from the Robert Koch Institute about 435 000 patients are diagnosed annually in Germany. 210 000 patients die annually of this diagnosis. Even if no significant progress in prevention has been achieved, in 2020 about 25 % more cases will be diagnosed. In the last two decades it has become established that an interdisciplinary treatment of tumour patients is necessary because the variety of different treatment options depending on an individual person cannot be mastered by one physician. The goal of the centres and certification is to establish a very concentrated expertise in large case numbers and quality-assured transparent treatment. The central requirement of a maximum-care centre is thus to enable communication under appropriate conditions. Promoting not only the space requirements, centre must also develop a treatment corridor and is responsible for further education. Additionally an oncology centre has a goal in communications, namely, to offer a treatment option for all patients in each stage of the disease, and to incorporate cancer patients in clinical trials. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Examining the nutritional quality of food and beverage consumed at Melbourne aquatic and recreation centres.

PubMed

Boelsen-Robinson, Tara; Chung, Alexandra; Khalil, Marianne; Wong, Evelyn; Kurzeme, Ariana; Peeters, Anna

2017-04-01

Examine the nutritional quality of food and beverages consumed across a sample of community aquatic and recreation centres in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Interviewer-administered surveys of randomly selected patrons attending four aquatic and recreation centres were conducted to ascertain food and beverage items consumed over two data collection periods (May-June 2014, January-February 2015). We selected centres in and around metropolitan Melbourne with a sit-down cafeteria and children's swimming classes. We classified items by government nutrient profiling guidelines; 'green' (best choice), 'amber' (choose carefully) or 'red' (limit). A total of 2,326 surveys were conducted (response rate 63%). Thirty-five per cent of surveyed patrons consumed food or beverages while at the centre; 54% of patrons purchased from the café and 61% brought items to the centre. More than half the food consumed from the café was 'red', increasing to 92% for children. One in five children visiting the centre consumed a 'red' item bought from the centre café. The nutritional quality of food and beverages consumed at recreation centres was generally poor, with the on-site cafés providing the majority of discretionary items consumed. Implications for public health: Community aquatic and recreation centres provide an opportunity to promote healthy eating by increasing the provision of healthy options and limiting discretionary food and drink items. © 2017 The Authors.

The methodology for defining the European Standards for the certification of Haemophilia Centres in Europe

PubMed Central

Candura, Fabio; Menichini, Ivana; Calizzani, Gabriele; Giangrande, Paul; Mannucci, Pier Mannuccio; Makris, Michael

2014-01-01

Introduction Work Package 4 Development of the standardisation criteria of the European Haemophilia Network project has the main objective of implementing a common and shared European strategy for a certification system for two levels of Haemophilia Centres: European Haemophilia Treatment Centres and European Haemophilia Comprehensive Care Centres in the Member States of the European Union. Materials and methods An inclusive and participatory process for developing shared standards and criteria for the management of patients with inherited bleeding disorders has been carried out. The process has been implemented through four different consultation events involving the entire European community of stakeholders that significantly contributed in the drafting of the European Guidelines for the certification of Haemophilia Centres. Results The Guidelines set the standards for the designation of centres that provide specialised and multidisciplinary care (Haemophilia Comprehensive Care Centres) as well as local routine care (Haemophilia Treatment Centres). Standards cover several issues such as: general requirements; patient care; advisory services; laboratory; networking of clinical and specialised services. Conclusions The drafting of the European Guidelines for the certification of Haemophilia Centres was performed adopting a rigorous methodological approach. In order to build the widest possible consensus to the quality standards, the main institutional and scientific stakeholders have been involved. The resulting document will significantly contribute in promoting standardisation in the quality of diagnosis and treatment in European Haemophilia Centres. PMID:24922292

Multi-centre audit of VMAT planning and pre-treatment verification.

PubMed

Jurado-Bruggeman, Diego; Hernández, Victor; Sáez, Jordi; Navarro, David; Pino, Francisco; Martínez, Tatiana; Alayrach, Maria-Elena; Ailleres, Norbert; Melero, Alejandro; Jornet, Núria

2017-08-01

We performed a multi-centre intercomparison of VMAT dose planning and pre-treatment verification. The aims were to analyse the dose plans in terms of dosimetric quality and deliverability, and to validate whether in-house pre-treatment verification results agreed with those of an external audit. The nine participating centres encompassed different machines, equipment, and methodologies. Two mock cases (prostate and head and neck) were planned using one and two arcs. A plan quality index was defined to compare the plans and different complexity indices were calculated to check their deliverability. We compared gamma index pass rates using the centre's equipment and methodology to those of an external audit (global 3D gamma, absolute dose differences, 10% of maximum dose threshold). Log-file analysis was performed to look for delivery errors. All centres fulfilled the dosimetric goals but plan quality and delivery complexity were heterogeneous and uncorrelated, depending on the manufacturer and the planner's methodology. Pre-treatment verifications results were within tolerance in all cases for gamma 3%-3mm evaluation. Nevertheless, differences between the external audit and in-house measurements arose due to different equipment or methodology, especially for 2%-2mm criteria with differences up to 20%. No correlation was found between complexity indices and verification results amongst centres. All plans fulfilled dosimetric constraints, but plan quality and complexity did not correlate and were strongly dependent on the planner and the vendor. In-house measurements cannot completely replace external audits for credentialing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Factors and Features of Museum Fatigue in Science Centres Felt by Korean Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Minchul; Dillon, Justin; Song, Jinwoong

2018-03-01

One of the objectives of science education in science centres has been the enhancement of interest in science. However, museum fatigue has a negative impact on interest. Museum fatigue has been described as physical tiredness or a decrease in visitors' interest in a museum. The learning experience of students in science centres is also influenced by museum fatigue. The purpose of this study is to identify the phenomena of museum fatigue in science centres and to identity how it is manifested. First, we identified the factors causing museum fatigue in science centres using the data from an open-ended questionnaire which was given to 597 primary, middle and high school students in South Korea. From the responses to the questionnaire, 50 factors causing museum fatigue in science centres were identified. A second Likert-type questionnaire with the 50 factors of museum fatigue in science centres was administered to 610 primary, middle and high school students in South Korea. Using reliability and factor analyses, we developed a framework of the factors causing museum fatigue in science centres, which consists of three contexts, 12 categories and 50 factors. Secondly, through statistical analyses including T test and ANOVA analysis, the features of students' museum fatigue in science centres were analysed and compared regarding student gender, school level, interest in science, grade of school science, the number of visits, and type of visit. The results, which were found to be statistically significant, are reported and discussed. The findings of this study are intended to serve for a deeper understanding and practical improvement of science learning in science centres.

Crystallographic Data Centre Services and Publications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cambridge Univ. (England). Chemical Lab.

The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre is concerned with the retrieval, evaluation, synthesis, and dissemination of structural data based on diffraction methods. The source of input is almost entirely primary journals. Bibliographic information and numeric data on crystal and molecular structures are on magnetic tapes. The bibliographic file…

Centre of Excellence For Simulation Education and Innovation (CESEI).

PubMed

Qayumi, A Karim

2010-01-01

Simulation is becoming an integral part of medical education. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) was the first organization to recognize the value of simulation-based learning, and to award accreditation for educational institutions that aim to provide simulation as part of the experiential learning opportunity. Centre of Excellence for Simulation Education and Innovation (CESEI) is a multidisciplinary and interprofessional educational facility that is based at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver Costal Health Authority (VCH). Centre of Excellence for Simulation Education and Innovation's goal is to provide excellence in education, research, and healthcare delivery by providing a technologically advanced environment and learning opportunity using simulation for various groups of learners including undergraduate, postgraduate, nursing, and allied health professionals. This article is an attempt to describe the infrastructure, services, and uniqueness of the Centre of Excellence for Simulation Education and Innovation. Copyright 2010 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An operational centre for managing major chemical industrial accidents.

PubMed

Kiranoudis, C T; Kourniotis, S P; Christolis, M; Markatos, N C; Zografos, K G; Giannouli, I M; Androutsopoulos, K N; Ziomas, I; Kosmidis, E; Simeonidis, P; Poupkou, N

2002-01-28

The most important characteristic of major chemical accidents, from a societal perspective, is their tendency to produce off-site effects. The extent and severity of the accident may significantly affect the population and the environment of the adjacent areas. Following an accident event, effort should be made to limit such effects. Management decisions should be based on rational and quantitative information based on the site specific circumstances and the possible consequences. To produce such information we have developed an operational centre for managing large-scale industrial accidents. Its architecture involves an integrated framework of geographical information system (GIS) and RDBMS technology systems equipped with interactive communication capabilities. The operational centre was developed for Windows 98 platforms, for the region of Thriasion Pedion of West Attica, where the concentration of industrial activity and storage of toxic chemical is immense within areas of high population density. An appropriate case study is given in order to illuminate the use and necessity of the operational centre.

Bright optical centre in diamond with narrow, highly polarised and nearly phonon-free fluorescence at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

John, Roger; Lehnert, Jan; Mensing, Michael; Spemann, Daniel; Pezzagna, Sébastien; Meijer, Jan

2017-05-01

Using shallow implantation of ions and molecules with masses centred at 27 atomic mass units (amu) in diamond, a new artificial optical centre with unique properties has been created. The centre shows a linearly polarised fluorescence with a main narrow emission line mostly found at 582 nm, together with a weak vibronic sideband at room temperature. The fluorescence lifetime is ∼2 ns and the brightest centres are more than three times brighter than the nitrogen-vacancy centres. A majority of the centres shows stable fluorescence whereas some others present a blinking behaviour, at faster or slower rates. Furthermore, a second kind of optical centre has been simultaneously created in the same diamond sample, within the same ion implantation run. This centre has a narrow zero-phonon line (ZPL) at ∼546 nm and a broad phonon sideband at room temperature. Interestingly, optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) has been measured on several single 546 nm centres and two resonance peaks are found at 0.99 and 1.27 GHz. In view of their very similar ODMR and optical spectra, the 546 nm centre is likely to coincide with the ST1 centre, reported once (with a ZPL at 550 nm), but of still unknown nature. These new kinds of centres are promising for quantum information processing, sub-diffraction optical imaging or use as single-photon sources.

What a Difference a Writing Centre Makes: A Small Scale Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeats, Rowena; Reddy, Peter; Wheeler, Anne; Senior, Carl; Murray, John

2010-01-01

Purpose: Academic writing is often considered to be a weakness in contemporary students, while good reporting and writing skills are highly valued by graduate employers. A number of universities have introduced writing centres aimed at addressing this problem; however, the evaluation of such centres is usually qualitative. The paper seeks to…

Daily Welcoming in Childcare Centre as a Microtransition: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venturelli, Elena; Cigala, Ada

2016-01-01

This study focuses on the everyday morning microtransition in childcare centres that involves child-parent separation. This moment involves the contemporary presence of the child, caregiver and parent in the day-care centre. This coexistence is considered extremely relevant and full of important meanings for the interactive patterns they will…

Understanding Challenges Physics Teachers Come Across as They Implement Learner-Centred Approaches in Lesotho

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qhobela, Makomosela; Moru, Eunice Kolitsoe

2014-01-01

Teacher-centred strategies have dominated most physics lessons in Lesotho. This study attempted to understand the contributing factors for the choice of teacher-centred teaching instead of learner-centred teaching with the goal of informing a professional development programme designed to address this problem. The paper responds to the research…

CADC and CANFAR: Extending the role of the data centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaudet, Severin

2015-12-01

Over the past six years, the CADC has moved beyond the astronomy archive data centre to a multi-service system for the community. This evolution is based on two major initiatives. The first is the adoption of International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) standards in both the system and data architecture of the CADC, including a common characterization data model. The second is the Canadian Advanced Network for Astronomical Research (CANFAR), a digital infrastructure combining the Canadian national research network (CANARIE), cloud processing and storage resources (Compute Canada) and a data centre (Canadian Astronomy Data Centre) into a unified ecosystem for storage and processing for the astronomy community. This talk will describe the architecture and integration of IVOA and CANFAR services into CADC operations, the operational experiences, the lessons learned and future directions

Phosphinocyclodextrins as confining units for catalytic metal centres. Applications to carbon–carbon bond forming reactions

PubMed Central

Jouffroy, Matthieu; Gramage-Doria, Rafael; Sémeril, David; Oberhauser, Werner; Toupet, Loïc

2014-01-01

Summary The capacity of two cavity-shaped ligands, HUGPHOS-1 and HUGPHOS-2, to generate exclusively singly phosphorus-ligated complexes, in which the cyclodextrin cavity tightly wraps around the metal centre, was explored with a number of late transition metal cations. Both cyclodextrin-derived ligands were assessed in palladium-catalysed Mizoroki–Heck coupling reactions between aryl bromides and styrene on one hand, and the rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydroformylation of styrene on the other hand. The inability of both chiral ligands to form standard bis(phosphine) complexes under catalytic conditions was established by high-pressure NMR studies and shown to have a deep impact on the two carbon–carbon bond forming reactions both in terms of activity and selectivity. For example, when used as ligands in the rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation of styrene, they lead to both high isoselectivity and high enantioselectivity. In the study dealing with the Mizoroki–Heck reactions, comparative tests were carried out with WIDEPHOS, a diphosphine analogue of HUGPHOS-2. PMID:25383109

Translation-coupling systems

DOEpatents

Pfleger, Brian; Mendez-Perez, Daniel

2013-11-05

Disclosed are systems and methods for coupling translation of a target gene to a detectable response gene. A version of the invention includes a translation-coupling cassette. The translation-coupling cassette includes a target gene, a response gene, a response-gene translation control element, and a secondary structure-forming sequence that reversibly forms a secondary structure masking the response-gene translation control element. Masking of the response-gene translation control element inhibits translation of the response gene. Full translation of the target gene results in unfolding of the secondary structure and consequent translation of the response gene. Translation of the target gene is determined by detecting presence of the response-gene protein product. The invention further includes RNA transcripts of the translation-coupling cassettes, vectors comprising the translation-coupling cassettes, hosts comprising the translation-coupling cassettes, methods of using the translation-coupling cassettes, and gene products produced with the translation-coupling cassettes.

Translation-coupling systems

DOEpatents

Pfleger, Brian; Mendez-Perez, Daniel

2015-05-19

Disclosed are systems and methods for coupling translation of a target gene to a detectable response gene. A version of the invention includes a translation-coupling cassette. The translation-coupling cassette includes a target gene, a response gene, a response-gene translation control element, and a secondary structure-forming sequence that reversibly forms a secondary structure masking the response-gene translation control element. Masking of the response-gene translation control element inhibits translation of the response gene. Full translation of the target gene results in unfolding of the secondary structure and consequent translation of the response gene. Translation of the target gene is determined by detecting presence of the response-gene protein product. The invention further includes RNA transcripts of the translation-coupling cassettes, vectors comprising the translation-coupling cassettes, hosts comprising the translation-coupling cassettes, methods of using the translation-coupling cassettes, and gene products produced with the translation-coupling cassettes.

An annually-resolved stalagmite tropical cyclone reconstruction from Belize reveals a northward shift in North Atlantic storm track position since 1550 C.E.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldini, Lisa; Baldini, James; McElwaine, Jim; Frappier, Amy; Asmerom, Yemane; Liu, Kam-biu; Prufer, Keith; Ridley, Harriet; Polyak, Victor; Kennett, Douglas; Macpherson, Colin; Aquino, Valorie; Awe, Jaime; Breitenbach, Sebastian

2017-04-01

Hurricanes are large-scale atmospheric phenomena that typically produce high volume, high intensity, and isotopically depleted rainfall. Such storms have the ability to alter the isotopic composition of the groundwater reservoir, imparting a uniquely negative isotopic fingerprint to actively growing stalagmites. In regions influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), large volumes of rainfall delivered during the wet season can obscure the tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall proxy signal. Coupled annually resolved carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were used to isolate the low δ18O TC signal from the isotopically more enriched background rainfall associated with seasonal ITCZ migration. The new composite stalagmite proxy record yielded a 99.7% significant correlation with the western Caribbean-filtered HURDAT2 database over the instrumental record based on a non-parametric bootstrap approach. The new annually-resolved TC reconstruction for the western Caribbean spans the last 450 years and reveals a peak in western Caribbean TCs at 1650 C.E. and a gradual decline until a marked decrease is observed at the start of the Industrial Era. Comparison with documentary records of TC occurrence along the US eastern seaboard reveals a clear pattern of north-eastward TC track migration since peak Little Ice Age cooling. This pattern is consistent with natural warming since the Little Ice Age temperature minimum and with anthropogenic influences after industrialisation. Satellite observations reveal Hadley cell expansion has occurred over the last three decades and modelling studies implicate rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations as the driver. Our results suggest that Hadley cell position and width is a major control on hurricane track position and that future emissions scenarios (continued rising greenhouse gases coupled with decreasing Northern Hemisphere aerosol emissions) are likely to increase storm risk to the north-eastern USA.

Choosing an out-of-hospital birth centre: Exploring women's decision-making experiences.

PubMed

Wood, Rebecca J; Mignone, Javier; Heaman, Maureen I; Robinson, Kristine J; Roger, Kerstin Stieber

2016-08-01

the primary objective for this study was to explore women's experiences of choosing to plan a birth at an out-of-hospital birth centre. We sought to understand how women make the choice to plan for an out-of-hospital birth and the meaning that women ascribe to this decision-making process. a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in Winnipeg, Canada with a sample of seventeen post partum women who represent the socio-demographic characteristics of the actual users of the Birth Centre in Winnipeg. The women participated in semistructured interviews. Through a feminist perspective and using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), each participant's experience of birthplace decision-making was explored. six themes emerged through the analysis: (1) Making the decision in the context of relationships; (2) Exercising personal agency; (3) An expression of one's ideology; (4) Really thinking it through; (5) Fitting into the eligibility criteria; and (6) The psychology of the space. The findings suggested that a woman's sense of safety was related to each of these themes. the birth centre decision-making experience has many similarities to the homebirth decision-making process. The visceral impact of the physical design of the facility plays an important role and differentiates the birth centre decision from other birth setting options. The concept of relational autonomy was emphasised in this study, in that women make the decision in the context of their relationships with their midwives and partners. The study has implications for midwifery practice and health-care policy related to: client education on birth settings, design of birth environments, validation of the birth centre concept, and upholding the women-centred midwifery model of care. The study highlighted the importance of increasing access to out-of-hospital birth centres. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Parameterisation of Metal Centred Redox Couples

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-29

of any ligand in the Series is independent of the metal ion to which it is attached, and 2) The contribution of a set of n uigands is additive, i.e...otherwise it would not work, or would have many exceptions. One may expect, for example, that the sequence of EL(L) values for a soft metal ion ...such as Cr(O) would surely be different than for a hard metal ion such as Ta(V), L~e. the old idea that soft Uganda prefer to bind to soft metal ions

Learner-Centred Education and "Cultural Translation"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Paul

2013-01-01

This paper contests the proposal that learner-centred education (LCE) may simply be a western construct, irrelevant to the current educational needs of developing countries, by arguing that its specific forms will be more effective when introduced through small-scale institutional relationships than through large-scale contracts with national…

Strategic Leadership of Teaching and Learning Centres: From Reality to Ideal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Stuart; Holt, Dale; Challis, Di

2011-01-01

This paper reports on the third phase of a study of Australian Teaching and Learning Centres to identify factors that contribute to the effective strategic leadership of Centres. Focus groups at 10 Australian universities included 66 respondents, providing a diverse range of perspectives, from students to members of the university executive.…

Sneeze related area in the medulla: localisation of the human sneezing centre?

PubMed

Seijo-Martínez, M; Varela-Freijanes, A; Grandes, J; Vázquez, F

2006-04-01

Sneezing is a rarely explored symptom in neurological practice. In the cat, a sneeze evoking centre is located in the medulla. The existence of a sneezing centre has not been confirmed in humans. A case with abnormal sneezing secondary to a strategic infarct in the right latero-medullary region is presented. A 66 year old man suddenly presented paroxysmal sneezing followed by ataxia, right sided motor and sensory symptoms, and hoarseness. The application of stimuli to the right nasal fossa did not evoke sneezing nor the wish to sneeze. The same stimuli to the contralateral nasal fossa evoked normal sneezing. The preservation of the superficial sensitivity of the nasal fossa indicates that the lesion was localised in the hypothetical human sneezing centre, very close to the spinal trigeminal tract and nucleus. This centre appears to be bilateral and functionally independent on both sides.

A luminous X-ray outburst from an intermediate-mass black hole in an off-centre star cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Dacheng; Strader, Jay; Carrasco, Eleazar R.; Page, Dany; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Homan, Jeroen; Irwin, Jimmy A.; Remillard, Ronald A.; Godet, Olivier; Webb, Natalie A.; Baumgardt, Holger; Wijnands, Rudy; Barret, Didier; Duc, Pierre-Alain; Brodie, Jean P.; Gwyn, Stephen D. J.

2018-06-01

A unique signature for the presence of massive black holes in very dense stellar regions is occasional giant-amplitude outbursts of multi-wavelength radiation from tidal disruption and subsequent accretion of stars that make a close approach to the black holes1. Previous strong tidal disruption event (TDE) candidates were all associated with the centres of largely isolated galaxies2-6. Here, we report the discovery of a luminous X-ray outburst from a massive star cluster at a projected distance of 12.5 kpc from the centre of a large lenticular galaxy. The luminosity peaked at 1043 erg s-1 and decayed systematically over 10 years, approximately following a trend that supports the identification of the event as a TDE. The X-ray spectra were all very soft, with emission confined to be ≲3.0 keV, and could be described with a standard thermal disk. The disk cooled significantly as the luminosity decreased—a key thermal-state signature often observed in accreting stellar-mass black holes. This thermal-state signature, coupled with very high luminosities, ultrasoft X-ray spectra and the characteristic power-law evolution of the light curve, provides strong evidence that the source contains an intermediate-mass black hole with a mass tens of thousand times that of the solar mass. This event demonstrates that one of the most effective means of detecting intermediate-mass black holes is through X-ray flares from TDEs in star clusters.

The UK Centre for Astrobiology: A Virtual Astrobiology Centre. Accomplishments and Lessons Learned, 2011-2016.

PubMed

Cockell, Charles S; Biller, Beth; Bryce, Casey; Cousins, Claire; Direito, Susana; Forgan, Duncan; Fox-Powell, Mark; Harrison, Jesse; Landenmark, Hanna; Nixon, Sophie; Payler, Samuel J; Rice, Ken; Samuels, Toby; Schwendner, Petra; Stevens, Adam; Nicholson, Natasha; Wadsworth, Jennifer

2018-02-01

The UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA) was set up in 2011 as a virtual center to contribute to astrobiology research, education, and outreach. After 5 years, we describe this center and its work in each of these areas. Its research has focused on studying life in extreme environments, the limits of life on Earth, and implications for habitability elsewhere. Among its research infrastructure projects, UKCA has assembled an underground astrobiology laboratory that has hosted a deep subsurface planetary analog program, and it has developed new flow-through systems to study extraterrestrial aqueous environments. UKCA has used this research backdrop to develop education programs in astrobiology, including a massive open online course in astrobiology that has attracted over 120,000 students, a teacher training program, and an initiative to take astrobiology into prisons. In this paper, we review these activities and others with a particular focus on providing lessons to others who may consider setting up an astrobiology center, institute, or science facility. We discuss experience in integrating astrobiology research into teaching and education activities. Key Words: Astrobiology-Centre-Education-Subsurface-Analog research. Astrobiology 18, 224-243.

The heart is a representation of life: an exploration of illness beliefs in couples living with atrial fibrillation.

PubMed

Dalteg, Tomas; Sandberg, Jonas; Malm, Dan; Sandgren, Anna; Benzein, Eva

2017-11-01

To explore illness beliefs in couples where one spouse has atrial fibrillation. Beliefs are the lenses through which we view the world, guiding our behaviour and constructing our lives. Couples evolve an ecology of beliefs from their interaction whereby their actions and choices arise from their beliefs. Atrial fibrillation is a common cardiac arrhythmia that has implications for both patients and partners. A couple's illness beliefs play an important role in convalescence and illness management, and no previous studies have explored illness beliefs in couples living with atrial fibrillation. A qualitative hermeneutic design. Data collection constituted in-depth interviews with nine couples (patient and partner together). Hermeneutic philosophy as described by Gadamer was used to interpret and to understand illness beliefs in couples living with atrial fibrillation. The findings revealed both core illness beliefs and secondary illness beliefs. From the core illness belief 'The heart is a representation of life', two secondary illness beliefs were derived: atrial fibrillation is a threat to life and atrial fibrillation can and must be explained. From the core illness belief 'Change is an integral part of life', two secondary illness beliefs were derived: atrial fibrillation is a disruption in our lives and atrial fibrillation will not interfere with our lives. Finally, from the core illness belief 'Adaptation is fundamental in life', two secondary illness beliefs were derived: atrial fibrillation entails adjustment in daily life and atrial fibrillation entails confidence in and adherence to professional care. Couples' interaction has developed mutual illness beliefs regarding atrial fibrillation that guide them in their daily lives and influence their decisions. The adoption of a family-centred perspective in cardiovascular care settings is warranted. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Medical students' and patients' perceptions of patient-centred attitude.

PubMed

Hur, Yera; Cho, A Ra; Choi, Chang Jin

2017-03-01

Patient-centred care can increase patient satisfaction and lead to better clinical outcomes for them, such as improved physical status and higher health-related quality of life. However, doctors' and patients' views on patient-centred attitude might differ and could be affected by culture and the community environment. To clarify the differences in primary care patients' and senior medical students' perceptions of medical students' patient-centred attitude. A total of 1,025 subjects-827 patients from primary care institutions and 198 fourth-year medical students from a medical college in South Korea-completed the Patient Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). The students completed the self-reported questionnaire at the end of their clinical clerkship. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and one-way analysis of variances were conducted in SPSS version 21.0. Firstly, sharing subscale scores were higher among patients than among medical students (students, 3.61 vs. patients, 3.76; p<0.001), but secondly, caring subscale scores were higher among medical students (students, 4.18 vs. patients, 3.82; p<0.001). Thirdly, PPOS total scores were higher among medical students (students, 3.90 vs. patients, 3.79; p=0.001). Finally, male students had the lowest sharing scores (F=6.811, p<0.001) and female students showed the highest PPOS total scores (F=5.805, p=0.001). Significant differences between medical students' and patients' perceptions of medical students' patient-centred attitudes suggest the necessity of educational efforts to overcome the gap between the groups.

Elaboration of the Gothenburg model of person-centred care.

PubMed

Britten, Nicky; Moore, Lucy; Lydahl, Doris; Naldemirci, Oncel; Elam, Mark; Wolf, Axel

2017-06-01

Person-centred care (PCC) is increasingly advocated as a new way of delivering health care, but there is little evidence that it is widely practised. The University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC) was set up in 2010 to develop and implement person-centred care in clinical practice on the basis of three routines. These routines are based on eliciting the patient's narrative to initiate a partnership; working the partnership to achieve commonly agreed goals; and using documentation to safeguard the partnership and record the person's narrative and shared goals. In this paper, we aimed to explore professionals' understanding of PCC routines as they implement the GPCC model in a range of different settings. We conducted a qualitative study and interviewed 18 clinician-researchers from five health-care professions who were working in seven diverse GPCC projects. Interviewees' accounts of PCC emphasized the ways in which persons are seen as different from patients; the variable emphasis placed on the person's goals; and the role of the person's own resources in building partnerships. This study illustrates what is needed for health-care professionals to implement PCC in everyday practice: the recognition of the person is as important as the specific practical routines. Interviewees described the need to change the clinical mindset and to develop the ways of integrating people's narratives with clinical practice. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A trans-cultural comparison of the organisation of care at headache centres world-wide.

PubMed

Bhola, Ria; Goadsby, Peter J

2011-02-01

The need to provide better outcomes for patients with headache, and to minimise the costs involved in doing so, has prompted the search for new modes of service delivery by exploring the service organisation and nursing role from various cultural, economic and global perspectives. This study was based on comparisons with the UK headache service up to 2007, the point at which this study was set up. This UK service was based at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN, UCLH Trust). Data were obtained from US headache centres in 2008 and from centres in Copenhagen, Bangkok, Sydney and Porto Alegre in 2009. A comparison shows the key components of services at all centres showing the team structure and size of service. Prominent features at the centres included: team-working, regular meetings, educational input, good access and communication among team members, headache-trained neurologists, specialist nursing at most centres, and the input of psychological and physical therapists at some centres. The problems of tertiary headache care are very similar throughout the world and seem to transcend ethnic, cultural and economic considerations.

An Evaluation of a Self-Access Centre through EFL Learners' Eyes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balcikanli, Cem

2017-01-01

Learner autonomy has become a central concern in the recent history of language learning. Self-Access Centres (SACs) play a critical role in fostering learner autonomy specifically in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) settings. As SACs aim at enabling learning to occur independent of teaching, in these centres, language learners are given more…

Staff Morale in Day Care Centres for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mascha, Katerina

2007-01-01

Background: Levels of burnout, job satisfaction and intended turnover of staff working in day care centres for adults with intellectual disabilities are investigated in relation to role clarity, staff support and supervision, and coping strategies used by staff. Materials and methods: Thirty six direct-care staff of four day care centres in the UK…

The Child at the Centre: Self-Evaluation in the Early Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, 2007

2007-01-01

This revised edition of "The Child at the Centre" replaces all previous versions. Along with a revised edition of "How good is our school?," this document forms the third part of "How good is our school? The Journey to Excellence." Early education centres are now part of a wider partnership of professionals, all of…

The 3D fault and vein architecture of strike-slip releasing- and restraining bends: Evidence from volcanic-centre-relatedmineral deposits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, B.R.; ,

2007-01-01

High-temperature, volcanic-centre-related hydrothermal systems involve large fluid-flow volumes and are observed to have high discharge rates in the order of 100-400 kg/s. The flows and discharge occur predominantly on networks of critically stressed fractures. The coupling of hydrothermal fluid flow with deformation produces the volumes of veins found in epithermal mineral deposits. Owing to this coupling, veins provide information on the fault-fracture architecture in existence at the time of mineralization. They therefore provide information on the nature of deformation within fault zones, and the relations between different fault sets. The Virginia City and Goldfield mining districts, Nevada, were localized in zones of strike-slip transtension in an Early to Mid-Miocene volcanic belt along the western margin of North America. The Camp Douglas mining area occurs within the same belt, but is localized in a zone of strike-slip transpression. The vein systems in these districts record the spatial evolution of strike-slip extensional and contractional stepovers, as well as geometry of faulting in and adjacent to points along strike-slip faults where displacement has been interrupted and transferred into releasing and restraining stepovers. ?? The Geological Society of London 2007.

Oo-Za-We-Kwun Centre Incorporated

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findlay, P. R.; And Others

1976-01-01

The Centre is described as being designed to help native people participate more effectively in a modern Canadian environment. The residential family program includes a five-week Life Skills course followed by a two-year transfer of learning period during which counseling, paid employment, and community activities are available. (Author/MS)

Special Issue: Using Drama to Improve Person-Centred Dementia Care

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Gail J.; Mistry, Bhavnita; Ballon, Bruce

2013-01-01

Background Person-centred dementia care guidelines emphasize the assessment of individual needs, and, where appropriate, the use of non-pharmacological interventions before resorting to pharmacological management. Yet dementia care is not consistent with these guidelines suggesting conceptual limitations and reliance on passive knowledge translation strategies. Aims and Objectives We implemented a 12-week drama-based educational intervention to introduce to dementia practitioners person-centred care that emphasizes the notion of embodied selfhood (defined as non-verbal self-expression). Design and Methods Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with practitioners (n=24) in two nursing homes in central Canada were undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the drama-based components of the intervention. Results Our findings suggest that drama was effective as an educational modality, and helped implement the person-centred approach into practice. Significant practice outcomes included: new awareness that residents’ body movements and dispositions convey meaning; seeking biographical information from families; increased time efficiency; and supporting residents’ independence. Conclusions Our findings make an important contribution to person-centred dementia care by broadening the notion of personhood, and by facilitating implementation using drama. Implications for Practice As an enhancement of person-centered care, the support of embodied selfhood may significantly improve residents’ quality of life, quality of care, and practitioners’ caregiving experience. PMID:20925717

[Medical waste management in healthcare centres in the occupied Palestinian territory].

PubMed

Al-Khatib, Issam A

2007-01-01

Medical waste management in primary and secondary healthcare centres in the occupied Palestinian territory was assessed. The overall monthly quantity of solid healthcare waste was estimated to be 512.6 tons. Only 10.8% of the centres completely segregated the different kinds of healthcare waste and only 15.7% treated their medical waste. In the centres that treated waste, open burning was the main method of treatment. The results indicate that Palestinians are exposed to health and environmental risks because of improper disposal of medical waste and steps are needed to improve the situation through the establishment and enforcement of laws, provision of the necessary infrastructure for proper waste management and training of healthcare workers and cleaners.

An Interactive Logistics Centre Information Integration System Using Virtual Reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, S.; Mao, B.

2018-04-01

The logistics industry plays a very important role in the operation of modern cities. Meanwhile, the development of logistics industry has derived various problems that are urgent to be solved, such as the safety of logistics products. This paper combines the study of logistics industry traceability and logistics centre environment safety supervision with virtual reality technology, creates an interactive logistics centre information integration system. The proposed system utilizes the immerse characteristic of virtual reality, to simulate the real logistics centre scene distinctly, which can make operation staff conduct safety supervision training at any time without regional restrictions. On the one hand, a large number of sensor data can be used to simulate a variety of disaster emergency situations. On the other hand, collecting personnel operation data, to analyse the improper operation, which can improve the training efficiency greatly.

Outcomes of Cryoballoon Ablation in High- and Low-Volume Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Centres: A Russian Pilot Survey

PubMed Central

Mikhaylov, Evgeny N.; Lebedev, Dmitry S.; Pokushalov, Evgeny A.; Davtyan, Karapet V.; Ivanitskii, Eduard A.; Nechepurenko, Anatoly A.; Kosonogov, Alexey Ya.; Kolunin, Grigory V.; Morozov, Igor A.; Termosesov, Sergey A.; Maykov, Evgeny B.; Khomutinin, Dmitry N.; Eremin, Sergey A.; Mayorov, Igor M.; Romanov, Alexander B.; Shabanov, Vitaliy V.; Shatakhtsyan, Victoria; Tsivkovskii, Viktor; Revishvili, Amiran Sh.; Shlyakhto, Evgeny V.

2015-01-01

Purpose. The results of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) procedure have been mainly derived from studies conducted in experienced atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation centres. Here, we report on CBA efficacy and complications resulting from real practice of this procedure at both high- and low-volume centres. Methods. Among 62 Russian centres performing AF ablation, 15 (24%) used CBA technology for pulmonary vein isolation. The centres were asked to provide a detailed description of all CBA procedures performed and complications, if encountered. Results. Thirteen sites completed interviews on all CBAs in their centres (>95% of CBAs in Russia). Six sites were high-volume AF ablation (>100 AF cases/year) centres, and 7 were low-volume AF ablation. There was no statistical difference in arrhythmia-free rates between high- and low-volume centres (64.6 versus 60.8% at 6 months). Major complications developed in 1.5% of patients and were equally distributed between high- and low-volume centres. Minor procedure-related events were encountered in 8% of patients and were more prevalent in high-volume centres. Total event and vascular access site event rates were higher in women than in men. Conclusions. CBA has an acceptable efficacy profile in real practice. In less experienced AF ablation centres, the major complication rate is equal to that in high-volume centres. PMID:26640789

Person-centred web-based support--development through a Swedish multi-case study.

PubMed

Josefsson, Ulrika; Berg, Marie; Koinberg, Ingalill; Hellström, Anna-Lena; Nolbris, Margaretha Jenholt; Ranerup, Agneta; Lundin, Carina Sparud; Skärsäter, Ingela

2013-10-19

Departing from the widespread use of the internet in modern society and the emerging use of web applications in healthcare this project captures persons' needs and expectations in order to develop highly usable web recourses. The purpose of this paper is to outline a multi-case research project focused on the development and evaluation of person-centred web-based support for people with long-term illness. To support the underlying idea to move beyond the illness, we approach the development of web support from the perspective of the emergent area of person-centred care. The project aims to contribute to the ongoing development of web-based supports in health care and to the emerging field of person-centred care. The research design uses a meta-analytical approach through its focus on synthesizing experiences from four Swedish regional and national cases of design and use of web-based support in long-term illness. The cases include children (bladder dysfunction and urogenital malformation), young adults (living close to persons with mental illness), and two different cases of adults (women with breast cancer and childbearing women with type 1 diabetes). All of the cases are ongoing, though in different stages of design, implementation, and analysis. This, we argue, will lead to a synthesis of results on a meta-level not yet described. To allow valid comparisons between the four cases we explore and problematize them in relation to four main aspects: 1) The use of people's experiences and needs; 2) The role of use of theories in the design of person-centred web-based supports; 3) The evaluation of the effects of health outcomes for the informants involved and 4) The development of a generic person-centred model for learning and social support for people with long-term illness and their significant others. Person-centred web-based support is a new area and few studies focus on how web-based interventions can contribute to the development of person-centred care. In

Person-centred web-based support - development through a Swedish multi-case study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Departing from the widespread use of the internet in modern society and the emerging use of web applications in healthcare this project captures persons’ needs and expectations in order to develop highly usable web recourses. The purpose of this paper is to outline a multi-case research project focused on the development and evaluation of person-centred web-based support for people with long-term illness. To support the underlying idea to move beyond the illness, we approach the development of web support from the perspective of the emergent area of person-centred care. The project aims to contribute to the ongoing development of web-based supports in health care and to the emerging field of person-centred care. Methods/Design The research design uses a meta-analytical approach through its focus on synthesizing experiences from four Swedish regional and national cases of design and use of web-based support in long-term illness. The cases include children (bladder dysfunction and urogenital malformation), young adults (living close to persons with mental illness), and two different cases of adults (women with breast cancer and childbearing women with type 1 diabetes). All of the cases are ongoing, though in different stages of design, implementation, and analysis. This, we argue, will lead to a synthesis of results on a meta-level not yet described. Discussion To allow valid comparisons between the four cases we explore and problematize them in relation to four main aspects: 1) The use of people’s experiences and needs; 2) The role of use of theories in the design of person-centred web-based supports; 3) The evaluation of the effects of health outcomes for the informants involved and 4) The development of a generic person-centred model for learning and social support for people with long-term illness and their significant others. Person-centred web-based support is a new area and few studies focus on how web-based interventions can contribute to the

Addiction research centres and the nurturing of creativity. The Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research: social science alcohol and drug research in Denmark.

PubMed

Pedersen, Mads U; Elmeland, Karen; Frank, Vibeke A

2011-12-01

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the social science alcohol and drug research undertaken by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (CRF) and at the same time offer an insight into the development in Danish alcohol and drug research throughout the past 15-20 years. A review of articles, books and reports published by researcher from CRF from the mid-1990s until today and an analysis of the policy-making in the Danish substance use and misuse area. CRF is a result of the discussions surrounding social, health and allocation policy questions since the mid-1980s. Among other things, these discussions led to the formal establishment of the Centre in 1991 under the Aarhus University, the Faculty of Social Science. Since 2001 the Centre has received a permanent basic allocation, which has made it possible to appoint tenured senior researchers; to work under a more long-term research strategy; to function as a milieu for educating PhD students; and to diversify from commissioned research tasks to initiating projects involving more fundamental research. Research at the Centre is today pivoted around four core areas: consumption, policy, prevention and treatment. The emergence, continuation, financing and character of the research taking place at CRF can be linked closely to the specific Danish drug and alcohol discourse and to the division of the responsibility for alcohol and drug research into separate Ministries. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Learner-Centred Education Reforms in India: The Missing Piece of Teachers' Beliefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinkmann, Suzana

2015-01-01

Recent international education trends have witnessed a widespread push for promoting Western-originating "learner-centred" approaches, often without adequately considering the challenges involved in crossing cultures. Like many developing countries, India has been attempting to bring a paradigm shift from "teacher-centred" to…

The Nature of Exhibits about Acoustics in Science and Technology Centres

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afonso, Ana S.; Gilbert, John K.

2008-01-01

This is a study of the opportunities currently provided by interactive science and technology centres for visitors' engagement in the field of acoustics. E-mails, requesting a description of exhibits on acoustics (sound and hearing) in use, were sent to members of staff of interactive science and technology centres around the world as well as to…

Dedicated Space Science Education Centres Provide the Model for Effective Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brumfitt, A.

Planetaria and science centres are traditionally successful players in engaging all levels and ages of society. They have long played a supportive role to and within education. Their value in teacher circles has always been recognised as an effective resource. Given the decline in career choices in traditional Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and astronomy and planetary sciences, they are now more important than ever. Since their inception the role and function of Planetaria has been required to evolve to meet the changing demands of society. They are now faced with the challenge of meeting new requirements and the need for new and different resources, techniques, support and funding models to meet and effectively deliver to new target groups. To face these challenges these pivotal centres require new methodology in their development of programs to be effective in their support to education. New directions specifically tailored for teacher professional development and for student studies. The changing requirements have resulted in a new kind of science centre one dedicated and specially designed using space science and dedicated to formal education across stem activities. The space scientist forms an integral and key role in this type of centre by providing the science, the passion of discovery and the relevance of the science to the community. These programs need to be carefully aligned to flexible course requirements and objectives to ensure relevancy to the education and outreach sector. They need access to and the support and input from the scientist and research institutions. They need real and appropriate material and resources. Scientists need effective channels through which to inform and share their work. Here is the potential for enormously effective symbiosis. This paper describes how new multi million dollar state-of-the-art space science centres are working with cutting edge science, research institutes, universities, government

[Establishing an Ambulatory Health-Care Centre (AHCC) at a University Hospital].

PubMed

Krüll, A; Debatin, J F

2013-02-01

Since January 2004 hospitals have the opportunity to establish an ambulatory health-care centre (Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum - MVZ) as a result of the introduction of the Health-care Modernisation Act (Gesetz zur Modernisierung der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung - GMG). After about a half-year preparatory phase, the UKE, in September 2004, began operation of the "Ambulanzzentrum des UKE GmbH" (a limited liability company) as the first MVZ at a university hospital in Germany. We report here on the establishment of the MVZ and the experience made. In the initial phase, only the medical fields of radiation therapy and nuclear medicine were represented. Both disciplines, especially radiation therapy, were existentially threatened by the extensive loss of ambulatory patients. The central motive for the establishment of the ambulatory health-care centre was to secure the survival of both disciplines and to preserve existing jobs. After it was put into operation, the referrals from practice-based colleagues to both radiation therapy and nuclear medicine increased quickly. The positive developments caused other departments of the UKE to express their interest in supplementing their outpatient activities with facilities in the MVZ. Over the following years, the ambulance centre grew steadily. Now 24 departments are represented in the MVZ, and the centre has a total of 49 positions for physicians contracted by and registered within the German public health insurance system. The number of salaried doctors has risen to 85, although many of these only work part time in the MVZ. Also more than 83 non-medical staff members were hired over the years. These were mostly physiotherapists, radiographers, and medical assistants. With the growing number of departments in the MVZ, the number of treated cases grew steadily. Currently approximately 20 000 cases are treated in each quarter of a year. The experience made while establishing an ambulatory health-care centre is very

Sneeze related area in the medulla: localisation of the human sneezing centre?

PubMed Central

Seijo‐Martínez, M; Varela‐Freijanes, A; Grandes, J; Vázquez, F

2006-01-01

Sneezing is a rarely explored symptom in neurological practice. In the cat, a sneeze evoking centre is located in the medulla. The existence of a sneezing centre has not been confirmed in humans. A case with abnormal sneezing secondary to a strategic infarct in the right latero‐medullary region is presented. A 66 year old man suddenly presented paroxysmal sneezing followed by ataxia, right sided motor and sensory symptoms, and hoarseness. The application of stimuli to the right nasal fossa did not evoke sneezing nor the wish to sneeze. The same stimuli to the contralateral nasal fossa evoked normal sneezing. The preservation of the superficial sensitivity of the nasal fossa indicates that the lesion was localised in the hypothetical human sneezing centre, very close to the spinal trigeminal tract and nucleus. This centre appears to be bilateral and functionally independent on both sides. PMID:16354739

Optical detection of paramagnetic centres: From crystals to glass-ceramics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogulis, Uldis

2016-07-01

An unambiguous attribution of the absorption spectra to definite paramagnetic centres identified by the EPR techniques in the most cases is problematic. This problem may be solved by applying of a direct measurement techniques—the EPR detected via the magnetic circular dichroism, or briefly MCD-EPR. The present survey reports on the advantages and disadvantages applying the MCD-EPR techniques to simple and complex paramagnetic centres in crystals as well as glasses and glass-ceramics.

Translating change: the development of a person-centred triage training programme for emergency nurses.

PubMed

McBrien, Barry

2009-01-01

Within health care, there has been a change in practice from an illness-orientated service to one that is more health-focused and person-centred. The concept of person-centredness is frequently espoused by practitioners as being not only a desirable, but a necessary element of health care provision. Indeed, nationally and internationally, person-centred care has underpinned many healthcare documents and policies. Person-centred practice focuses on providing care, utilising a variety of processes that operationalise person-centred nursing and include working with patients' beliefs and values, engagement, presence, sharing decision-making and providing for physical needs. In the field of emergency nursing, the incorporation of person-centred care and its holistic foundation may require a significant shift in practice. There is evidence to suggest that emergency nurses view their role as one, which is predominantly concerned with providing urgent physical care, rather than one, which espouses the theories of holistic healthcare. To this extent, being person-centred in the context of emergency care, requires the nurse to move beyond the traditional notions of his/her role and to embrace the more holistic aspects of patient care. The aim of this article is to critically analyse how a change in nurse-led triage training in one Irish Emergency Department facilitated an improved person-centred approach in practice.

Development and implementation of a nurse-led walk-in centre: evidence lost in translation?

PubMed

Desborough, Jane; Parker, Rhian; Forrest, Laura

2013-07-01

The design of the first Australian public nurse-led primary care walk-in centre was modelled on those established in the English National Health Service (NHS). An independent evaluation of the first 12 months of operation of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Health walk-in centre, in 2011, analysed the translation of evidence from the national evaluation of the NHS walk-in centres to the policy development and implementation of the ACT walk-in centre. Whilst in a number of ways the evidence was used well, our interest for this paper was to examine three areas identified as problematic and to identify the points at which the evidence was lost or diluted. In addition to data obtained through nurse and key stakeholder interviews for the evaluation, an analysis was undertaken of documents on the planning and establishment of the ACT walk-in centre, either provided to the evaluation team or made publicly available. Three areas were identified as problematic in the way that evidence from the NHS evaluation was translated: the use of clinical decision support software (CDSS); the marketing of the walk-in centre; and its location. Our examination indicates that despite seeking evidence to inform the development of the ACT walk-in centre, the evidence was not fully used and some clear lessons ignored, resulting in much of the evidence being lost in translation.

From 'needing to know' to 'needing not to know more': an interpretative phenomenological analysis of couples' experiences with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Wawrziczny, Emilie; Pasquier, Florence; Ducharme, Francine; Kergoat, Marie-Jeanne; Antoine, Pascal

2016-12-01

To explore the experiences and adjustment modes of couples during the period between the initial signs of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the years following diagnosis, particularly in the case of early-onset AD. A dyadic interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted with married couples in which one member of each couple received a diagnosis of probable early-onset AD (before 65 years of age). Sixteen young couples, followed by the National Reference Centre for Young Persons with AD, agreed to participate. For seven of the couples, the caregiver was a woman. The mean age was 57.4 (SD = 4.2) for the caregivers and 57.3 (SD = 4.1) for the persons with AD. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in the couples' homes. Each interview was conducted with both spouses to capture their interactions in the context of individual and shared experiences. Two higher-order themes emerged from the analyses: the 'need to know' and, after the diagnosis, the 'need not to know more'. Indeed, the first signs mark the beginning of a period of doubt and a search for understanding. This pursuit of knowledge progresses to the recognition of more intense and severe signs that encourage couples to seek medical attention. Both reassuring and destabilising, the diagnosis is a breaking point that modifies how the changes and painful effects associated with disease are experienced. Couples employ strategies to minimise their suffering and consequently their knowledge about the disease. These results show that the couples oscillate between the need to know and the fear of knowing. To protect themselves, they use strategies to reduce their suffering and to distance the disease. The use of these avoidance strategies indicates that certain times in the course of disease management are less appropriate for couples to accept the assistance offered by formal caregivers. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

A student-centred feedback model for educators.

PubMed

Rudland, Joy; Wilkinson, Tim; Wearn, Andy; Nicol, Pam; Tunny, Terry; Owen, Cathy; O'Keefe, Maree

2013-04-01

Effective feedback is instrumental to effective learning. Current feedback models tend to be educator driven rather than learner-centred, with the focus on how the supervisor should give feedback rather than on the role of the learner in requesting and responding to feedback. An alternative approach emphasising the theoretical principles of student-centred and self-regulated learning is offered, drawing upon the literature and also upon the experience of the authors. The proposed feedback model places the student in the centre of the feedback process, and stresses that the attainment of student learning outcomes is influenced by the students themselves. This model emphasises the attributes of the student, particularly responsiveness, receptiveness and reflection, whilst acknowledging the important role that the context and attributes of the supervisor have in influencing the quality of feedback. Educational institutions should consider strategies to encourage and enable students to maximise the many feedback opportunities available to them. As a minimum, educators should remind students about their central role in the feedback process, and support them to develop confidence in meeting this role. In addition, supervisors may need support to develop the skills to shift the balance of responsibility and support students in precipitating feedback moments. Research is also required to validate the proposed model and to determine how to support students to adopt self-regulatory learning, with feedback as a central platform. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.

Headache service quality: evaluation of quality indicators in 14 specialist-care centres.

PubMed

Schramm, Sara; Uluduz, Derya; Gouveia, Raquel Gil; Jensen, Rigmor; Siva, Aksel; Uygunoglu, Ugur; Gvantsa, Giorgadze; Mania, Maka; Braschinsky, Mark; Filatova, Elena; Latysheva, Nina; Osipova, Vera; Skorobogatykh, Kirill; Azimova, Julia; Straube, Andreas; Eren, Ozan Emre; Martelletti, Paolo; De Angelis, Valerio; Negro, Andrea; Linde, Mattias; Hagen, Knut; Radojicic, Aleksandra; Zidverc-Trajkovic, Jasna; Podgorac, Ana; Paemeleire, Koen; De Pue, Annelien; Lampl, Christian; Steiner, Timothy J; Katsarava, Zaza

2016-12-01

The study was a collaboration between Lifting The Burden (LTB) and the European Headache Federation (EHF). Its aim was to evaluate the implementation of quality indicators for headache care Europe-wide in specialist headache centres (level-3 according to the EHF/LTB standard). Employing previously-developed instruments in 14 such centres, we made enquiries, in each, of health-care providers (doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists) and 50 patients, and analysed the medical records of 50 other patients. Enquiries were in 9 domains: diagnostic accuracy, individualized management, referral pathways, patient's education and reassurance, convenience and comfort, patient's satisfaction, equity and efficiency of the headache care, outcome assessment and safety. Our study showed that highly experienced headache centres treated their patients in general very well. The centres were content with their work and their patients were content with their treatment. Including disability and quality-of-life evaluations in clinical assessments, and protocols regarding safety, proved problematic: better standards for these are needed. Some centres had problems with follow-up: many specialised centres operated in one-touch systems, without possibility of controlling long-term management or the success of treatments dependent on this. This first Europe-wide quality study showed that the quality indicators were workable in specialist care. They demonstrated common trends, producing evidence of what is majority practice. They also uncovered deficits that might be remedied in order to improve quality. They offer the means of setting benchmarks against which service quality may be judged. The next step is to take the evaluation process into non-specialist care (EHF/LTB levels 1 and 2).

Trace Element Geochemistry of Basaltic Tephra in Maar Cores; Implications for Centre Correlation, Field Evolution, and Mantle Source Characteristics of the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, J. L.; Leonard, G.; Timm, C.; Wilson, C. J. N.; Neil, H.; Millet, M. A.

2014-12-01

Establishing volcanic hazard and risk management strategies hinges on a detailed understanding of the type, timing and tephra dispersal of past eruptions. In order to unravel the pyroclastic eruption history of a volcanic field, genetic links between the deposits and eruption source centre need to be established. The Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF; New Zealand) has been active for ca. 200 kyr and comprises ca. 53 individual centres covering an area of ca. 360km2. These centres show a range of sizes and eruptive styles from maar craters and tuff rings, to scoria cones and lava flows consistent with both phreatomagmatic and magmatic eruptions. Superimposition of the metropolitan area of Auckland (ca. 1.4 million inhabitants) on the volcanic field makes it critically important to assess the characteristics of the volcanic activity, on which to base assessment and management of the consequent hazards. Here we present a geochemical approach for correlating tephra deposits to their source centres. To acquire the most complete stratigraphic record of pyroclastic events, maar crater cores from different locations, covering various depths and thus ages across the field were selected. Magnetic susceptibility and x-ray density scanning of the cores was used to identify the basaltic tephra horizons, which were sampled and in-situ analysis of individual shards undertaken for major and trace elements using EPMA and LA-ICP-MS techniques, respectively. Our results show that tephra shard trace element ratios are comparable and complementary to the AVF whole rock database. The use of specific trace element ratios (e.g. Gd/Yb vs. Zr/Yb) allows us to fingerprint and cross correlate tephra horizons between cores and, when coupled with newly acquired 40Ar-39Ar age dating and eruption size estimates, correlate horizons to their source centres. This integrated style of study can provide valuable information to help volcanic hazard management and forecasting, and mitigation of related risks.

Couple Support Schemata in Couples with and without Spinal Cord Injury

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilad, Dvorit; Lavee, Yoav

2010-01-01

This article describes the cognitive schemata of couples' support relationships among 65 couples in which the husband had a long-term spinal cord injury and 65 couples without disability. The structure of the support relations schemata were examined by means of smallest-space analysis. Similarities between men and women in couples with and without…

Different centre of pressure patterns within the golf stroke II: group-based analysis.

PubMed

Ball, K A; Best, R J

2007-05-01

Although the golf coaching literature stresses the importance of weight transfer during the swing, research has been conflicting or lacking statistical support. A potential problem with previous studies is that no attempt was made to account for different movement strategies in the golf swing. This study evaluated the relationship between centre of pressure measures and club head velocity within two previously identified swing styles, the "Front Foot" and "Reverse" styles. Thirty-nine Front Foot golfers and 19 Reverse golfers performed swings with a driver while standing on two force plates. From the force plate data, centre of pressure displacement, velocity, range, and timing parameters were calculated. Correlation and regression analysis indicated that a larger range of centre of pressure and a more rapid centre of pressure movement in the downswing was associated with a larger club head velocity at ball contact for the Front Foot group. For the Reverse golfers, positioning the centre of pressure further from the back foot at late backswing and a more rapid centre of pressure transfer towards the back foot at ball contact was associated with a larger club head velocity at ball contact. This study has highlighted the importance of identifying different movement strategies before evaluating performance measures, as different parameters were found to be important for the Front Foot and Reverse styles.

Does user-centred design affect the efficiency, usability and safety of CPOE order sets?

PubMed

Chan, Julie; Shojania, Kaveh G; Easty, Anthony C; Etchells, Edward E

2011-05-01

Application of user-centred design principles to Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems may improve task efficiency, usability or safety, but there is limited evaluative research of its impact on CPOE systems. We evaluated the task efficiency, usability, and safety of three order set formats: our hospital's planned CPOE order sets (CPOE Test), computer order sets based on user-centred design principles (User Centred Design), and existing pre-printed paper order sets (Paper). 27 staff physicians, residents and medical students. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Methods Participants completed four simulated order set tasks with three order set formats (two CPOE Test tasks, one User Centred Design, and one Paper). Order of presentation of order set formats and tasks was randomized. Users received individual training for the CPOE Test format only. Completion time (efficiency), requests for assistance (usability), and errors in the submitted orders (safety). 27 study participants completed 108 order sets. Mean task times were: User Centred Design format 273 s, Paper format 293 s (p=0.73 compared to UCD format), and CPOE Test format 637 s (p<0.0001 compared to UCD format). Users requested assistance in 31% of the CPOE Test format tasks, whereas no assistance was needed for the other formats (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in number of errors between formats. The User Centred Design format was more efficient and usable than the CPOE Test format even though training was provided for the latter. We conclude that application of user-centred design principles can enhance task efficiency and usability, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation.

Patients' views of patient-centred care: a phenomenological case study in one surgical unit.

PubMed

Marshall, Amy; Kitson, Alison; Zeitz, Kathryn

2012-12-01

To report a study of patients' views of patient-centred care. The study aimed to explore patients' understanding and conceptualization of patient-centred care and link it to existing literature on the topic. Patient-centred care currently lacks a widely accepted definition, with much of the literature based on definitions formulated by health professionals and researchers. Qualitative research study grounded in phenomenology. Interpersonal interviews were conducted with ten participants who were patients in a surgical ward in a large metropolitan hospital in South Australia in 2010. Participants were unfamiliar with the concept of patient-centred care, but despite this, were able to describe what the term meant to them and what they wanted from their care. Patients equated the type and quality of care they received with the staff that provided it and themes of connectedness, involvement and attentiveness were prevalent in their descriptions of what they wanted from their care. Ensuring that patients have a voice in the definition and conceptualization of patient-centred care is essential and further and regular consultation with patients about their needs and priorities will ensure an integrated approach to patient-centred care. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Disaster preparedness of Canadian trauma centres: the perspective of medical directors of trauma

PubMed Central

Gomez, David; Haas, Barbara; Ahmed, Najma; Tien, Homer; Nathens, Avery

2011-01-01

Background Owing to their constant readiness to treat injured patients, trauma centres are essential to regional responses to mass casualty incidents (MCIs). Reviews of recent MCIs suggest that trauma centre preparedness has frequently been limited. We set out to evaluate Canadian trauma centre preparedness and the extent of their integration into a regional response to MCIs. Methods We conducted a survey of Canadian level-1 trauma centres (n = 29) to characterize their existing disaster-response plans and to identify areas where pre-paredness could be improved. The survey was directed to the medical director of trauma at each centre. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze responses. Results Twenty-three (79%) trauma centres in 5 provinces responded. Whereas most (83%) reported the presence of a committee dedicated to disaster preparedness, only half of the medical directors of trauma were members of these committees. Almost half (43%) the institutions had not run any disaster drill in the previous 2 years. Only 70% of trauma centres used communications assets designed to function during MCIs. Additionally, more than half of the trauma directors (59%) did not know if their institutions had the ability to sustain operations for at least 72 hours during MCIs. Conclusion The results of this study suggest important opportunities to better prepare Canadian trauma centers to respond to an MCI. The main areas identified for potential improvement include the need for the standardization of MCI planning and response at a regional level and the implementation of strategies such as stockpiling of resources and novel communication strategies to avoid functional collapse during an MCI. PMID:21251427

Myanmar: The Community Learning Centre Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Middelborg, Jorn; Duvieusart, Baudouin, Ed.

A community learning centre (CLC) is a local educational institution outside the formal education system, usually set up and managed by local people. CLCs were first introduced in Myanmar in 1994, and by 2001 there were 71 CLCs in 11 townships. The townships are characterized by remoteness, landlessness, unemployment, dependency on one cash crop,…

75 FR 22578 - Application To Export Electric Energy; Centre Lane Trading Limited

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-29

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [OE Docket No. EA-365] Application To Export Electric Energy; Centre Lane... application. SUMMARY: Centre Lane Trading Limited (CLT) has applied for authority to transmit electric energy...)). On April 20, 2010, DOE received an application from CLT for authority to transmit electric energy...

Amazon Basin climate under global warming: the role of the sea surface temperature.

PubMed

Harris, Phil P; Huntingford, Chris; Cox, Peter M

2008-05-27

The Hadley Centre coupled climate-carbon cycle model (HadCM3LC) predicts loss of the Amazon rainforest in response to future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the atmospheric component of HadCM3LC is used to assess the role of simulated changes in mid-twenty-first century sea surface temperature (SST) in Amazon Basin climate change. When the full HadCM3LC SST anomalies (SSTAs) are used, the atmosphere model reproduces the Amazon Basin climate change exhibited by HadCM3LC, including much of the reduction in Amazon Basin rainfall. This rainfall change is shown to be the combined effect of SSTAs in both the tropical Atlantic and the Pacific, with roughly equal contributions from each basin. The greatest rainfall reduction occurs from May to October, outside of the mature South American monsoon (SAM) season. This dry season response is the combined effect of a more rapid warming of the tropical North Atlantic relative to the south, and warm SSTAs in the tropical east Pacific. Conversely, a weak enhancement of mature SAM season rainfall in response to Atlantic SST change is suppressed by the atmospheric response to Pacific SST. This net wet season response is sufficient to prevent dry season soil moisture deficits from being recharged through the SAM season, leading to a perennial soil moisture reduction and an associated 30% reduction in annual Amazon Basin net primary productivity (NPP). A further 23% NPP reduction occurs in response to a 3.5 degrees C warmer air temperature associated with a global mean SST warming.

A consistent prescription of stratospheric aerosol for both radiation and chemistry in the Community Earth System Model (CESM1)

DOE PAGES

Neely, III, Ryan Reynolds; Conley, Andrew J.; Vitt, Francis; ...

2016-07-25

Here we describe an updated parameterization for prescribing stratospheric aerosol in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM1). The need for a new parameterization is motivated by the poor response of the CESM1 (formerly referred to as the Community Climate System Model, version 4, CCSM4) simulations contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) to colossal volcanic perturbations to the stratospheric aerosol layer (such as the 1991 Pinatubo eruption or the 1883 Krakatau eruption) in comparison to observations. In particular, the scheme used in the CMIP5 simulations by CESM1 simulated a global mean surface temperature decreasemore » that was inconsistent with the GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, and the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office (HADCRUT4). The new parameterization takes advantage of recent improvements in historical stratospheric aerosol databases to allow for variations in both the mass loading and size of the prescribed aerosol. An ensemble of simulations utilizing the old and new schemes shows CESM1's improved response to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption. Most significantly, the new scheme more accurately simulates the temperature response of the stratosphere due to local aerosol heating. Here, results also indicate that the new scheme decreases the global mean temperature response to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption by half of the observed temperature change, and modelled climate variability precludes statements as to the significance of this change.« less

Production and export in a global ocean ecosystem model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, J. R.; Totterdell, I. J.

2001-05-01

The Hadley Centre Ocean Carbon Cycle (HadOCC) model is a coupled physical-biogeochemical model of the ocean carbon cycle. It features an explicit representation of the marine ecosystem, which is assumed to be limited by nitrogen availability. The biogeochemical compartments are dissolved nutrient, total CO 2, total alkalinity, phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus. The results of the standard simulation are presented. The annual primary production predicted by the model ( 47.7 Gt C yr -1) compares well to the estimates made by Longhurst et al. (1995, J. Plankton Res., 17, 1245) and Antoine et al. (1996, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 10, 57). The HadOCC model finds high production in the sub-polar North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, and around the Antarctic convergence, and low production in the sub-tropical gyres. However in disagreement with the observations of Longhurst et al. and Antoine et al., the model predicts very high production in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The export flux of carbon in the model agrees well with data from deep-water sediment traps. In order to examine the factors controlling production in the ocean, additional simulations have been run. A nutrient-restoring simulation confirms that the areas with the highest primary production are those with the greatest nutrient supply. A reduced wind-stress experiment demonstrates that the high production found in the equatorial Pacific is driven by excessive upwelling of nutrient-rich water. Three further simulations show that nutrient supply at high latitudes, and hence production there, is sensitive to the parameters and climatological forcings of the mixed layer sub-model.

Helix coupling

DOEpatents

Ginell, W.S.

1982-03-17

A coupling for connecting helix members in series, which consists of a pair of U-shaped elements, one of which is attached to each helix end with the U sections of the elements interlocked. The coupling is particularly beneficial for interconnecting helical Nitinol elements utilized in thermal actuators or engines. Each coupling half is attached to the associated helix at two points, thereby providing axial load while being easily removed from the helix, and reusable.

Helix coupling

DOEpatents

Ginell, William S.

1989-04-25

A coupling for connecting helix members in series, which consists of a pair of U-shaped elements, one of which is attached to each helix end with the "U" sections of the elements interlocked. The coupling is particularly beneficial for interconnecting helical Nitinol elements utilized in thermal actuators or engines. Each coupling half is attached to the associated helix at two points, thereby providing axial load while being easily removed from the helix, and reusable.

Addressing model error through atmospheric stochastic physical parametrizations: impact on the coupled ECMWF seasonal forecasting system

PubMed Central

Weisheimer, Antje; Corti, Susanna; Palmer, Tim; Vitart, Frederic

2014-01-01

The finite resolution of general circulation models of the coupled atmosphere–ocean system and the effects of sub-grid-scale variability present a major source of uncertainty in model simulations on all time scales. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has been at the forefront of developing new approaches to account for these uncertainties. In particular, the stochastically perturbed physical tendency scheme and the stochastically perturbed backscatter algorithm for the atmosphere are now used routinely for global numerical weather prediction. The European Centre also performs long-range predictions of the coupled atmosphere–ocean climate system in operational forecast mode, and the latest seasonal forecasting system—System 4—has the stochastically perturbed tendency and backscatter schemes implemented in a similar way to that for the medium-range weather forecasts. Here, we present results of the impact of these schemes in System 4 by contrasting the operational performance on seasonal time scales during the retrospective forecast period 1981–2010 with comparable simulations that do not account for the representation of model uncertainty. We find that the stochastic tendency perturbation schemes helped to reduce excessively strong convective activity especially over the Maritime Continent and the tropical Western Pacific, leading to reduced biases of the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), cloud cover, precipitation and near-surface winds. Positive impact was also found for the statistics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), showing an increase in the frequencies and amplitudes of MJO events. Further, the errors of El Niño southern oscillation forecasts become smaller, whereas increases in ensemble spread lead to a better calibrated system if the stochastic tendency is activated. The backscatter scheme has overall neutral impact. Finally, evidence for noise-activated regime transitions has been found in a cluster analysis of mid

Addressing model error through atmospheric stochastic physical parametrizations: impact on the coupled ECMWF seasonal forecasting system.

PubMed

Weisheimer, Antje; Corti, Susanna; Palmer, Tim; Vitart, Frederic

2014-06-28

The finite resolution of general circulation models of the coupled atmosphere-ocean system and the effects of sub-grid-scale variability present a major source of uncertainty in model simulations on all time scales. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has been at the forefront of developing new approaches to account for these uncertainties. In particular, the stochastically perturbed physical tendency scheme and the stochastically perturbed backscatter algorithm for the atmosphere are now used routinely for global numerical weather prediction. The European Centre also performs long-range predictions of the coupled atmosphere-ocean climate system in operational forecast mode, and the latest seasonal forecasting system--System 4--has the stochastically perturbed tendency and backscatter schemes implemented in a similar way to that for the medium-range weather forecasts. Here, we present results of the impact of these schemes in System 4 by contrasting the operational performance on seasonal time scales during the retrospective forecast period 1981-2010 with comparable simulations that do not account for the representation of model uncertainty. We find that the stochastic tendency perturbation schemes helped to reduce excessively strong convective activity especially over the Maritime Continent and the tropical Western Pacific, leading to reduced biases of the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), cloud cover, precipitation and near-surface winds. Positive impact was also found for the statistics of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), showing an increase in the frequencies and amplitudes of MJO events. Further, the errors of El Niño southern oscillation forecasts become smaller, whereas increases in ensemble spread lead to a better calibrated system if the stochastic tendency is activated. The backscatter scheme has overall neutral impact. Finally, evidence for noise-activated regime transitions has been found in a cluster analysis of mid

The IOC Centres of Excellence bring prevention to sports medicine.

PubMed

Engebretsen, Lars; Bahr, Roald; Cook, Jill L; Derman, Wayne; Emery, Carolyn A; Finch, Caroline F; Meeuwisse, Willem H; Schwellnus, Martin; Steffen, Kathrin

2014-09-01

The protection of an athlete's health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are top priorities for the IOC and its Medical Commission. The IOC therefore partners with selected research centres around the world and supports research in the field of sports medicine. This has enabled the IOC to develop an international network of expert scientists and clinicians in sports injury and disease prevention research. The IOC wants to promote injury and disease prevention and the improvement of physical health of the athlete by: (1) establishing long-term research programmes on injury and disease prevention (including studies on basic epidemiology, risk factors, injury mechanisms and intervention), (2) fostering collaborative relationships with individuals, institutions and organisations to improve athletes' health, (3) implementing and collaborating with applied, ongoing and novel research and development within the framework and long-term strategy of the IOC and (4) setting up knowledge translation mechanisms to share scientific research results with the field throughout the Olympic Movement and sports community and converting these results into concrete actions to protect the health of the athletes. In 2009, the IOC also identified four research centres that had an established track record in research, educational and clinical activities to achieve these ambitions: (1) the Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), Australia; (2) the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC), Canada; (3) the Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Research (CSEM), South Africa and (4) the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC), Norway. This paper highlights the work carried out by these four IOC Centres of Excellence over the past 6 years and their contribution to the world of sports medicine. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Coupling detrended fluctuation analysis for analyzing coupled nonstationary signals.

PubMed

Hedayatifar, L; Vahabi, M; Jafari, G R

2011-08-01

When many variables are coupled to each other, a single case study could not give us thorough and precise information. When these time series are stationary, different methods of random matrix analysis and complex networks can be used. But, in nonstationary cases, the multifractal-detrended-cross-correlation-analysis (MF-DXA) method was introduced for just two coupled time series. In this article, we have extended the MF-DXA to the method of coupling detrended fluctuation analysis (CDFA) for the case when more than two series are correlated to each other. Here, we have calculated the multifractal properties of the coupled time series, and by comparing CDFA results of the original series with those of the shuffled and surrogate series, we can estimate the source of multifractality and the extent to which our series are coupled to each other. We illustrate the method by selected examples from air pollution and foreign exchange rates.

Coupling detrended fluctuation analysis for analyzing coupled nonstationary signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hedayatifar, L.; Vahabi, M.; Jafari, G. R.

2011-08-01

When many variables are coupled to each other, a single case study could not give us thorough and precise information. When these time series are stationary, different methods of random matrix analysis and complex networks can be used. But, in nonstationary cases, the multifractal-detrended-cross-correlation-analysis (MF-DXA) method was introduced for just two coupled time series. In this article, we have extended the MF-DXA to the method of coupling detrended fluctuation analysis (CDFA) for the case when more than two series are correlated to each other. Here, we have calculated the multifractal properties of the coupled time series, and by comparing CDFA results of the original series with those of the shuffled and surrogate series, we can estimate the source of multifractality and the extent to which our series are coupled to each other. We illustrate the method by selected examples from air pollution and foreign exchange rates.

Measurement of the Higgs boson coupling properties in the H → ZZ* → 4ℓ decay channel at $$ \\sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

DOE PAGES

Aaboud, M.; Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; ...

2018-03-15

Here, the coupling properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the four-lepton (e, μ) decay channel using 36.1 fb –1 of pp collision data from the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are measured for the main production modes in several exclusive regions of the Higgs boson production phase space and are interpreted in terms of coupling modifiers. The inclusive cross section times branching ratio for H → ZZ* decay and for a Higgs boson absolute rapidity below 2.5 is measured to be 1.73 –0.23 +0.24 (stat.) –0.08 +0.10 (exp.)more » ± 0.04(th.) pb compared to the Standard Model prediction of 1.34±0.09 pb. In addition, the tensor structure of the Higgs boson couplings is studied using an effective Lagrangian approach for the description of interactions beyond the Standard Model. Constraints are placed on the non-Standard-Model CP-even and CP-odd couplings to Z bosons and on the CP-odd coupling to gluons.« less

Measurement of the Higgs boson coupling properties in the H → ZZ* → 4ℓ decay channel at $$ \\sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aaboud, M.; Aad, G.; Abbott, B.

Here, the coupling properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the four-lepton (e, μ) decay channel using 36.1 fb –1 of pp collision data from the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are measured for the main production modes in several exclusive regions of the Higgs boson production phase space and are interpreted in terms of coupling modifiers. The inclusive cross section times branching ratio for H → ZZ* decay and for a Higgs boson absolute rapidity below 2.5 is measured to be 1.73 –0.23 +0.24 (stat.) –0.08 +0.10 (exp.)more » ± 0.04(th.) pb compared to the Standard Model prediction of 1.34±0.09 pb. In addition, the tensor structure of the Higgs boson couplings is studied using an effective Lagrangian approach for the description of interactions beyond the Standard Model. Constraints are placed on the non-Standard-Model CP-even and CP-odd couplings to Z bosons and on the CP-odd coupling to gluons.« less

What specifications for a centre or network of excellence in clinical research?

PubMed

Diebolt, Vincent; Lang, Marie; Thoby, Frédérique

2016-02-01

The Giens 2015 Workshop Round Table entitled "What specifications for a centre or network of excellence in clinical research?" took a viewpoint distinct from earlier work and studies on changes in clinical research activities in France. The purpose of the present work was to identify, starting from concrete examples, the main strengths and advantages of clinical research activity in France related, in part, to the background environment and also to the specific characteristics of the investigation centres considered to be among the most high-performance units in activity. The criteria retained were grouped into a set of specifications that could be used to establish a "label of excellence" upon which the different teams and clinical research centres could model themselves. It was thus considered that belonging to a centre or structured network with at least a national configuration, when this is possible for the medial topic in question, constitutes a real advantage. Four benchmarks were identified: the scientific and clinical expertise of the head investigator, as well as the qualification and operational capacity of the centre's team; definition and measurement of performance using clearly displayed indicators and evaluation procedures; the quality of the overall trial "process" and of each of its component steps; communication, because know-how and promotion go hand in hand, with the main objective of informing the professional and general public about the value of the research centre meeting the above-mentioned criteria, about its networks of competencies, and more generally, about the important assets of the background of clinical research in France. This sector of research is funded by the public authorities via calls for public grants, financial aids for structures supporting clinical research in the University Hospital Centres and other healthcare institutions allowing for a professionalization of the research occupations, and the national public health

Claims for fertility interventions: a systematic assessment of statements on UK fertility centre websites

PubMed Central

Spencer, E A; Mahtani, K R; Goldacre, B; Heneghan, C

2016-01-01

Objectives Fertility services in the UK are offered by over 200 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)-registered NHS and private clinics. While in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) form part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, many further interventions are offered. We aimed to record claims of benefit for interventions offered by fertility centres via information on the centres' websites and record what evidence was cited for these claims. Methods We obtained from HFEA a list of all UK centres providing fertility treatments and examined their websites. We listed fertility interventions offered in addition to standard IVF and ICSI and recorded statements about interventions that claimed or implied improvements in fertility in healthy women. We recorded which claims were quantified, and the evidence cited in support of the claims. Two reviewers extracted data from websites. We accessed websites from 21 December 2015 to 31 March 2016. Results We found 233 websites for HFEA-registered fertility treatment centres, of which 152 (65%) were excluded as duplicates or satellite centres, 2 were andrology clinics and 5 were unavailable or under construction websites. In total, 74 fertility centre websites, incorporating 1401 web pages, were examined for claims. We found 276 claims of benefit relating to 41 different fertility interventions made by 60 of the 74 centres (median 3 per website; range 0 to 10). Quantification was given for 79 (29%) of the claims. 16 published references were cited 21 times on 13 of the 74 websites. Conclusions Many fertility centres in the UK offer a range of treatments in addition to standard IVF procedures, and for many of these interventions claims of benefit are made. In most cases, the claims are not quantified and evidence is not cited to support the claims. There is a need for more information on interventions to be made available by fertility centres

How to predict a high rate of inappropriateness for upper endoscopy in an endoscopic centre?

PubMed

Buri, L; Bersani, G; Hassan, C; Anti, M; Bianco, M A; Cipolletta, L; Di Giulio, E; Di Matteo, G; Familiari, L; Ficano, L; Loriga, P; Morini, S; Pietropaolo, V; Zambelli, A; Grossi, E; Intraligi, M; Tessari, F; Buscema, M

2010-09-01

Inappropriateness of upper endoscopy (EGD) indication causes decreased diagnostic yield. Our aim of was to identify predictors of appropriateness rate for EGD among endoscopic centres. A post-hoc analysis of two multicentre cross-sectional studies, including 6270 and 8252 patients consecutively referred to EGD in 44 (group A) and 55 (group B) endoscopic Italian centres in 2003 and 2007, respectively, was performed. A multiple forward stepwise regression was applied to group A, and independently validated in group B. A <70% threshold was adopted to define inadequate appropriateness rate clustered by centre. discrete variability of clustered appropriateness rates among the 44 group A centres was observed (median: 77%; range: 41-97%), and a <70% appropriateness rate was detected in 11 (25%). Independent predictors of centre appropriateness rate were: percentage of patients referred by general practitioners (GP), rate of urgent examinations, prevalence of relevant diseases, and academic status. For group B, sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver operating characteristic curve of the model in detecting centres with a <70% appropriateness rate were 54%, 93% and 0.72, respectively. A simple predictive rule, based on rate of patients referred by GPs, rate of urgent examinations, prevalence of relevant diseases and academic status, identified a small subset of centres characterised by a high rate of inappropriateness. These centres may be presumed to obtain the largest benefit from targeted educational programs. Copyright (c) 2010 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Young people with psychiatric disabilities and their views of day centres.

PubMed

Gunnarsson, A Birgitta; Eklund, Mona

2017-05-01

Young people with psychiatric disabilities may require support in structuring their everyday life. To learn more about the relevance of day centres in this respect, this study aimed to examine the experiences of young people with psychiatric disabilities. A particular focus was on the perceptions of meaningful occupation when visiting day centres, their reasons for not choosing this option when given it and what they desired instead. A qualitative design based on individual interviews was used. Twelve women and eight men between 18 and 35 years, with a need for organized daily occupations, participated as informants. Qualitative content analysis revealed three categories: 'Being in a context', 'Balancing between developing and stagnating', and 'Longing for something more'. The findings indicated that the occupations were inherently age neutral, as were the possibilities for socializing. There was a desire for more activities in the community and more support for engaging in occupations that other young people did. A major issue in the accomplishment of this was the need to earn money, and the lack of opportunities for doing that in the day centre context was a considerable drawback. The findings highlight the importance of identifying young people's views when designing day centres.

Standardizing the atomic description, axis and centre of biological ion channels.

PubMed

Kaats, Adrian J; Galiana, Henrietta L; Nadeau, Jay L

2007-09-15

A general representation of the atomic co-ordinates of a biological ion channel is obtained from a definition of channel axis and centre. Through rotation and translation of the channel, its centre becomes the origin of the standard co-ordinate system, and the channel axis becomes the system's z-axis. A method for determining the channel axis and centre based on the concepts of mass centre and mass moment of inertia is presented. The method for determining the channel axis can be directly applied to channels that adhere to two specific conditions regarding their geometry and mass distribution. Specific examples are given for Gramicidin A (GA), and the mammalian potassium channel Kv 1.2. For channels that do not adhere to these conditions, minor modifications of these procedures can be applied in determining the channel axis. Specific examples are given for the outer membrane bacterial porin OmpF, and for the staphylococcal pore-forming toxin alpha-hemolysin (alpha HL). The definitions and procedures presented are made in an effort to establish a standard basis for performing, sharing, and comparing computations in a consistent manner.

Youth Research Centre Annual Report, 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melbourne Univ. (Australia). Youth Research Centre.

This report details the activities of the Youth Research Centre (YRC) at the University of Melbourne in 2002 in research project work involving a balance between the completion of projects, the development of new areas, and the continuation of longer-term projects as well as the supervision and teaching of a range of postgraduate health and…

Self Assessment and Student-Centred Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonald, Betty

2012-01-01

This paper seeks to show how self assessment facilitates student-centred learning (SCL) and fills a gap in the literature. Two groups of students were selected from a single class in a tertiary educational institution. The control group of 25 was selected randomly by the tossing of an unbiased coin (heads = control group). They were trained in the…

What is the degree of innovation routinely implemented in Dutch radiotherapy centres? A multicentre cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Jacobs, Maria; Boersma, Liesbeth; Dekker, Andre; Bosmans, Geert; van Merode, Frits; Verhaegen, Frank; de Ruysscher, Dirk; Swart, Rachelle; Kengen, Cindy; Lambin, Philippe

2016-11-01

To study the implementation of innovation activities in Dutch radiotherapy (RT) centres in a broad sense (product, technological, market and organizational innovations). A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 15 Dutch RT centres. A list of innovations implemented from 2011 to 2013 was drawn up for each centre using semi-structured interviews. These innovations were classified into innovation categories according to previously defined innovation indicators. Where applicable, each innovation was rated by each centre on the effort required to implement it and on its expected effects, to get an impression of how far reaching and radical the innovations were and to be able to compare the number of innovations between centres. The participating RT centres in the Netherlands implemented 12 innovations per year on average (range 5-25); this number was not significantly different for academic (n = 13) or non-academic centres (n = 10). Several centres were dealing with the same innovations at the same time. The average required effort and expected output did not differ significantly between product, technological and organizational innovation or between academic and non-academic centres. The number of innovations observed per centre varied across a large range, with a large overlap in terms of the type of innovations that were implemented. Registering innovations using the innovation indicators applied in our study would make it possible to improve collaboration between centres, e.g. with common training modules, to avoid duplication of work. Advances in knowledge: This study is the first of its kind investigating innovation implementation in RT in a broad sense.

Volcano and ship tracks indicate excessive aerosol-induced cloud water increases in a climate model.

PubMed

Toll, Velle; Christensen, Matthew; Gassó, Santiago; Bellouin, Nicolas

2017-12-28

Aerosol-cloud interaction is the most uncertain mechanism of anthropogenic radiative forcing of Earth's climate, and aerosol-induced cloud water changes are particularly poorly constrained in climate models. By combining satellite retrievals of volcano and ship tracks in stratocumulus clouds, we compile a unique observational dataset and confirm that liquid water path (LWP) responses to aerosols are bidirectional, and on average the increases in LWP are closely compensated by the decreases. Moreover, the meteorological parameters controlling the LWP responses are strikingly similar between the volcano and ship tracks. In stark contrast to observations, there are substantial unidirectional increases in LWP in the Hadley Centre climate model, because the model accounts only for the decreased precipitation efficiency and not for the enhanced entrainment drying. If the LWP increases in the model were compensated by the decreases as the observations suggest, its indirect aerosol radiative forcing in stratocumulus regions would decrease by 45%.

Person-centred ward climate as experienced by mentally lucid residents in long-term care facilities.

PubMed

Bergland, Ådel; Hofoss, Dag; Kirkevold, Marit; Vassbø, Tove; Edvardsson, David

2015-02-01

To assess the content validity and reliability of the Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version in long-term care facilities, to describe residents' perceptions of the extent to which their ward climate was person-centred and to explore whether person-centredness was associated with facility and resident characteristics, such as facility and ward size, having a sensory garden and having a primary caregiver. The importance of the physical environment to persons with dementia has been investigated. However, research is lacking regarding the extent to which mentally lucid residents experience their physical and psycho-social ward climate as person-centred and the factors influencing their experience. Cross-sectional survey design. The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version was translated into Norwegian with forward and backward translation. The content validity index for scales was assessed. The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire -Patient version was completed by 145 mentally lucid residents in 17 Norwegian long-term care facilities. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's α and item-total correlations. Test-retest reliability was assessed by paired samples t-test and Spearman's correlation. To explore differences based on facility and resident characteristics, independent-samples t-test and one-way anova were used. The content validity index for scales was satisfactory. The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version was internally consistent and had satisfactory test-retest reliability. The climate was experienced as highly person-centred. No significant differences were found, except that residents in larger facilities experienced the climate as more person-centred in relation to everyday activities (subscale 2) than residents in smaller facilities. The Norwegian version of the Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version can be regarded as reliable in a long-term care facility context. Perceived degree of person

CMS Centres Worldwide - a New Collaborative Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Lucas

2011-12-01

The CMS Experiment at the LHC has established a network of more than fifty inter-connected "CMS Centres" at CERN and in institutes in the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. These facilities are used by people doing CMS detector and computing grid operations, remote shifts, data quality monitoring and analysis, as well as education and outreach. We present the computing, software, and collaborative tools and videoconferencing systems. These include permanently running "telepresence" video links (hardware-based H.323, EVO and Vidyo), Webcasts, and generic Web tools such as CMS-TV for broadcasting live monitoring and outreach information. Being Web-based and experiment-independent, these systems could easily be extended to other organizations. We describe the experiences of using CMS Centres Worldwide in the CMS data-taking operations as well as for major media events with several hundred TV channels, radio stations, and many more press journalists simultaneously around the world.

Putting Children at the Centre: Making Policy as if Children Mattered

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St. John, Susan

2014-01-01

What do we mean when we say we want to put children at the centre of policy? What are the moral justifications for this approach? Has it become harder for us to understand this concept, when in practice paid work has been at the centre? In part confusion arises because the unpaid work of caring for children is invisible until it is marketized. In…

Does user-centred design affect the efficiency, usability and safety of CPOE order sets?

PubMed Central

Chan, Julie; Shojania, Kaveh G; Easty, Anthony C

2011-01-01

Background Application of user-centred design principles to Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems may improve task efficiency, usability or safety, but there is limited evaluative research of its impact on CPOE systems. Objective We evaluated the task efficiency, usability, and safety of three order set formats: our hospital's planned CPOE order sets (CPOE Test), computer order sets based on user-centred design principles (User Centred Design), and existing pre-printed paper order sets (Paper). Participants 27staff physicians, residents and medical students. Setting Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Methods Participants completed four simulated order set tasks with three order set formats (two CPOE Test tasks, one User Centred Design, and one Paper). Order of presentation of order set formats and tasks was randomized. Users received individual training for the CPOE Test format only. Main Measures Completion time (efficiency), requests for assistance (usability), and errors in the submitted orders (safety). Results 27 study participants completed 108 order sets. Mean task times were: User Centred Design format 273 s, Paper format 293 s (p=0.73 compared to UCD format), and CPOE Test format 637 s (p<0.0001 compared to UCD format). Users requested assistance in 31% of the CPOE Test format tasks, whereas no assistance was needed for the other formats (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in number of errors between formats. Conclusions The User Centred Design format was more efficient and usable than the CPOE Test format even though training was provided for the latter. We conclude that application of user-centred design principles can enhance task efficiency and usability, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation. PMID:21486886

Being Subject-Centred: A Philosophy of Teaching and Implications for Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Hobson, Julia

2013-01-01

Being subject-centred as a higher education teacher offers a rich and illuminating philosophical and practical understanding of learning. Building upon previous research on subject-centred learning, we draw on reflection, literature review and a phenomenological approach to show how our ways of being infuse the teaching and learning environment.…

Marketing, Management and Performance: Multilingualism as Commodity in a Tourism Call Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duchene, Alexandre

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on the ways an institution of the new economy--a tourism call centre in Switzerland--markets, manages and performs multilingual services. In particular, it explores the ways multilingualism operates as a strategic and managerial tool within tourism call centres and how the institutional regulation of language practices…

Business Models of High Performance Computing Centres in Higher Education in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eurich, Markus; Calleja, Paul; Boutellier, Roman

2013-01-01

High performance computing (HPC) service centres are a vital part of the academic infrastructure of higher education organisations. However, despite their importance for research and the necessary high capital expenditures, business research on HPC service centres is mostly missing. From a business perspective, it is important to find an answer to…

Session on coupled atmospheric/chemistry coupled models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Anne

1993-01-01

The session on coupled atmospheric/chemistry coupled models is reviewed. Current model limitations, current issues and critical unknowns, and modeling activity are addressed. Specific recommendations and experimental strategies on the following are given: multiscale surface layer - planetary boundary layer - chemical flux measurements; Eulerian budget study; and Langrangian experiment. Nonprecipitating cloud studies, organized convective systems, and aerosols - heterogenous chemistry are also discussed.

[Are our medical centres for fitness to drive and firearms licences effective?].

PubMed

García-Fortea, P; Estebaranz-García, F J; Heredia-Civantos, M D; Bermúdez-Virgós, A; Rodríguez-Ortega, J

2016-01-01

This article aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of medical centres in the assessment of medical fitness for driving and gun licences, as well as describing the differences between them. Using a crossover design and a representative sample of holders of driving and firearms licences in the province of Malaga during 2014 (363 reports for driving licenses and 626 for firearms licenses), an assessment was made of fitness report issued by the centres by comparing it with the records of the Andalusian public health service. The proportion of those that would not meet the legal eligibility requirements was calculated. An analysis was made of the origin of the disagreements as regards the information made available by the centres. The discordance in the assessment of fitness to drive was estimated as 15.4% (95% CI: 12.0 to 19.4), while for firearms licenses it was 2.7 times higher (41.4%). The origin of the discordance is related to the information provided to the centres, rather than the assessment made by them. The limited effectiveness of the centres in the assessment of fitness for driving and, especially, for firearms licenses, could be improved by increased monitoring of their activity, providing health workers with adequate training and access to healthcare records of applicants. Copyright © 2015 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Changing Perspectives: Teaching and Learning Centres' Strategic Contributions to Academic Development in Australian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holt, Dale; Palmer, Stuart; Challis, Di

2011-01-01

This article reports on a study of Australian teaching and learning centres to identify factors that contribute to their effective strategic leadership. These centres remain in a state of flux, with seemingly endless reconfiguration. The drivers for such change appear to lie in decision makers' search for their centres to add more strategic value…

Mode-coupling theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reichman, David R.; Charbonneau, Patrick

2005-05-01

In this set of lecture notes we review the mode-coupling theory of the glass transition from several perspectives. First, we derive mode-coupling equations for the description of density fluctuations from microscopic considerations with the use the Mori Zwanzig projection operator technique. We also derive schematic mode-coupling equations of a similar form from a field-theoretic perspective. We review the successes and failures of mode-coupling theory, and discuss recent advances in the applications of the theory.

Cheminformatics Research at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics Cambridge.

PubMed

Fuchs, Julian E; Bender, Andreas; Glen, Robert C

2015-09-01

The Centre for Molecular Informatics, formerly Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics (UCMSI), at the University of Cambridge is a world-leading driving force in the field of cheminformatics. Since its opening in 2000 more than 300 scientific articles have fundamentally changed the field of molecular informatics. The Centre has been a key player in promoting open chemical data and semantic access. Though mainly focussing on basic research, close collaborations with industrial partners ensured real world feedback and access to high quality molecular data. A variety of tools and standard protocols have been developed and are ubiquitous in the daily practice of cheminformatics. Here, we present a retrospective of cheminformatics research performed at the UCMSI, thereby highlighting historical and recent trends in the field as well as indicating future directions.

Cheminformatics Research at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics Cambridge

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Julian E; Bender, Andreas; Glen, Robert C

2015-01-01

The Centre for Molecular Informatics, formerly Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics (UCMSI), at the University of Cambridge is a world-leading driving force in the field of cheminformatics. Since its opening in 2000 more than 300 scientific articles have fundamentally changed the field of molecular informatics. The Centre has been a key player in promoting open chemical data and semantic access. Though mainly focussing on basic research, close collaborations with industrial partners ensured real world feedback and access to high quality molecular data. A variety of tools and standard protocols have been developed and are ubiquitous in the daily practice of cheminformatics. Here, we present a retrospective of cheminformatics research performed at the UCMSI, thereby highlighting historical and recent trends in the field as well as indicating future directions. PMID:26435758

Patient or treatment centre? Where are efforts invested to improve cancer patients' psychosocial outcomes?

PubMed Central

Carey, ML; Clinton-McHarg, T; Sanson-Fisher, RW; Campbell, S; Douglas, HE

2011-01-01

The psychosocial outcomes of cancer patients may be influenced by individual-level, social and treatment centre predictors. This paper aimed to examine the extent to which individual, social and treatment centre variables have been examined as predictors or targets of intervention for psychosocial outcomes of cancer patients. Medline was searched to find studies in which the psychological outcomes of cancer patient were primary variables. Papers published in English between 1999 and 2009 that reported primary data relevant to psychosocial outcomes for cancer patients were included, with 20% randomly selected for further coding. Descriptive studies were coded for inclusion of individual, social or treatment centre variables. Intervention studies were coded to determine if the unit of intervention was the individual patient, social unit or treatment centre. After random sampling, 412 publications meeting the inclusion criteria were identified, 169 were descriptive and 243 interventions. Of the descriptive papers 95.0% included individual predictors, and 5.0% social predictors. None of the descriptive papers examined treatment centre variables as predictors of psychosocial outcomes. Similarly, none of the interventions evaluated the effectiveness of treatment centre interventions for improving psychosocial outcomes. Potential reasons for the overwhelming dominance of individual predictors and individual-focused interventions in psychosocial literature are discussed. PMID:20646035

Factors influencing subjective perceptions of everyday occupations: comparing day centre attendees with non-attendees.

PubMed

Argentzell, Elisabeth; Leufstadius, Christel; Eklund, Mona

2012-01-01

Subjective perceptions of everyday occupations are important for the well-being of people with psychiatric disabilities (PD) and are likely to vary with factors such as attending a day centre or not, activity level, self-mastery, sociodemographic and clinical factors. To explore differences in subjective perceptions of occupation and activity level between day centre attendees and non-attendees, and to investigate factors of importance for the subjective perceptions of occupations. The study groups comprised 175 participants: 93 day centre attendees and 82 non-attendees. Data were collected with instruments concerning; subjective perceptions of everyday occupations, activity level, self-mastery, and sociodemographic and clinical factors. Day centre attendees perceived higher levels of occupational value and activity level, while the groups perceived a similar level of satisfaction with daily occupations. For the total sample, self-mastery influenced both valued and satisfying everyday occupations while only value was affected by activity level. Satisfaction with daily occupation increased with age and both value and satisfaction increased with lower levels of psychiatric symptoms. Day centres provide perceptions of occupational value and stimulate activity. Non-differences between the groups regarding satisfaction with everyday occupations implied, however, that day centres might not cover all relevant occupational needs.

In the Field: The Canadian Ecology Centre.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magee, Clare

2000-01-01

The Canadian Ecology Centre (Ontario) offers year-round residential and day programs in outdoor and environmental education for secondary students, field placement and internship opportunities for college students, and ecotourism programs, while providing employment and tax revenues to the local community. Dubbed consensus environmentalism, the…

Impossibility of asymptotic synchronization for pulse-coupled oscillators with delayed excitatory coupling.

PubMed

Wu, Wei; Chen, Tianping

2009-12-01

Fireflies, as one of the most spectacular examples of synchronization in nature, have been investigated widely. In 1990, Mirollo and Strogatz proposed a pulse-coupled oscillator model to explain the synchronization of South East Asian fireflies (Pteroptyx malaccae). However, transmission delays were not considered in their model. In fact, when transmission delays are introduced, the dynamic behaviors of pulse-coupled networks change a lot. In this paper, pulse-coupled oscillator networks with delayed excitatory coupling are studied. A concept of synchronization, named weak asymptotic synchronization, which is weaker than asymptotic synchronization, is proposed. We prove that for pulse-coupled oscillator networks with delayed excitatory coupling, weak asymptotic synchronization cannot occur.

User-Centred Design Using Gamestorming.

PubMed

Currie, Leanne

2016-01-01

User-centered design (UX) is becoming a standard in software engineering and has tremendous potential in healthcare. The purpose of this tutorial will be to demonstrate and provide participants with practice in user-centred design methods that involve 'Gamestorming', a form of brainstorming where 'the rules of life are temporarily suspended'. Participants will learn and apply gamestorming methods including persona development via empathy mapping and methods to translate artefacts derived from participatory design sessions into functional and design requirements.

Laboratory 3.0: Manufacturing Technologies Laboratory Virtualization with a Student-Centred Methodology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fabregat-Sanjuan, Albert; Pàmies-Vilà, Rosa; Ferrando Piera, Francesc; De la Flor López, Silvia

2017-01-01

This paper presents a blended-learning strategy for improving the teaching method applied in the laboratory subject Manufacturing Technologies. The teaching method has been changed from a predominantly teacher-centred to an active learning system with a student-centred focus and e-learning activities. In face-to-face classes, a game-based learning…

Learning in a Language Centre: A New Kind of "Do-It-Yourself"?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chateau, Anne; Bailly, Sophie

2013-01-01

Since CercleS was created in 1990, language resource centres, or language centres, have offered learners various means to improve their language skills. They are often places where new pedagogical approaches and innovative learning environments are proposed (Rivens Mompean 2011). As the names of some of the associations belonging to CercleS…

Measurement of the Higgs boson coupling properties in the H → ZZ ∗ → 4ℓ decay channel at √{s}=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aaboud, M.; Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdinov, O.; Abeloos, B.; Abidi, S. H.; AbouZeid, O. S.; Abraham, N. L.; Abramowicz, H.; Abreu, H.; Abreu, R.; Abulaiti, Y.; Acharya, B. S.; Adachi, S.; Adamczyk, L.; Adelman, J.; Adersberger, M.; Adye, T.; Affolder, A. A.; Afik, Y.; Agatonovic-Jovin, T.; Agheorghiesei, C.; Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A.; Ahlen, S. P.; Ahmadov, F.; Aielli, G.; Akatsuka, S.; Akerstedt, H.; Åkesson, T. P. A.; Akilli, E.; Akimov, A. V.; Alberghi, G. L.; Albert, J.; Albicocco, P.; Alconada Verzini, M. J.; Alderweireldt, S. C.; Aleksa, M.; Aleksandrov, I. N.; Alexa, C.; Alexander, G.; Alexopoulos, T.; Alhroob, M.; Ali, B.; Aliev, M.; Alimonti, G.; Alison, J.; Alkire, S. P.; Allbrooke, B. M. M.; Allen, B. W.; Allport, P. P.; Aloisio, A.; Alonso, A.; Alonso, F.; Alpigiani, C.; Alshehri, A. A.; Alstaty, M. I.; Alvarez Gonzalez, B.; Álvarez Piqueras, D.; Alviggi, M. G.; Amadio, B. T.; Amaral Coutinho, Y.; Amelung, C.; Amidei, D.; Amor Dos Santos, S. P.; Amoroso, S.; Amundsen, G.; Anastopoulos, C.; Ancu, L. S.; Andari, N.; Andeen, T.; Anders, C. F.; Anders, J. K.; Anderson, K. J.; Andreazza, A.; Andrei, V.; Angelidakis, S.; Angelozzi, I.; Angerami, A.; Anisenkov, A. V.; Anjos, N.; Annovi, A.; Antel, C.; Antonelli, M.; Antonov, A.; Antrim, D. J.; Anulli, F.; Aoki, M.; Aperio Bella, L.; Arabidze, G.; Arai, Y.; Araque, J. P.; Araujo Ferraz, V.; Arce, A. T. H.; Ardell, R. E.; Arduh, F. A.; Arguin, J.-F.; Argyropoulos, S.; Arik, M.; Armbruster, A. J.; Armitage, L. J.; Arnaez, O.; Arnold, H.; Arratia, M.; Arslan, O.; Artamonov, A.; Artoni, G.; Artz, S.; Asai, S.; Asbah, N.; Ashkenazi, A.; Asquith, L.; Assamagan, K.; Astalos, R.; Atkinson, M.; Atlay, N. B.; Augsten, K.; Avolio, G.; Axen, B.; Ayoub, M. K.; Azuelos, G.; Baas, A. E.; Baca, M. J.; Bachacou, H.; Bachas, K.; Backes, M.; Bagnaia, P.; Bahmani, M.; Bahrasemani, H.; Baines, J. T.; Bajic, M.; Baker, O. K.; Bakker, P. J.; Baldin, E. M.; Balek, P.; Balli, F.; Balunas, W. K.; Banas, E.; Bandyopadhyay, A.; Banerjee, Sw.; Bannoura, A. A. E.; Barak, L.; Barberio, E. L.; Barberis, D.; Barbero, M.; Barillari, T.; Barisits, M.-S.; Barkeloo, J. T.; Barklow, T.; Barlow, N.; Barnes, S. L.; Barnett, B. M.; Barnett, R. M.; Barnovska-Blenessy, Z.; Baroncelli, A.; Barone, G.; Barr, A. J.; Barranco Navarro, L.; Barreiro, F.; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, J.; Bartoldus, R.; Barton, A. E.; Bartos, P.; Basalaev, A.; Bassalat, A.; Bates, R. L.; Batista, S. J.; Batley, J. R.; Battaglia, M.; Bauce, M.; Bauer, F.; Bawa, H. S.; Beacham, J. B.; Beattie, M. D.; Beau, T.; Beauchemin, P. H.; Bechtle, P.; Beck, H. P.; Beck, H. C.; Becker, K.; Becker, M.; Becot, C.; Beddall, A. J.; Beddall, A.; Bednyakov, V. A.; Bedognetti, M.; Bee, C. P.; Beermann, T. A.; Begalli, M.; Begel, M.; Behr, J. K.; Bell, A. S.; Bella, G.; Bellagamba, L.; Bellerive, A.; Bellomo, M.; Belotskiy, K.; Beltramello, O.; Belyaev, N. L.; Benary, O.; Benchekroun, D.; Bender, M.; Benekos, N.; Benhammou, Y.; Benhar Noccioli, E.; Benitez, J.; Benjamin, D. P.; Benoit, M.; Bensinger, J. R.; Bentvelsen, S.; Beresford, L.; Beretta, M.; Berge, D.; Bergeaas Kuutmann, E.; Berger, N.; Bergsten, L. J.; Beringer, J.; Berlendis, S.; Bernard, N. R.; Bernardi, G.; Bernius, C.; Bernlochner, F. U.; Berry, T.; Berta, P.; Bertella, C.; Bertoli, G.; Bertram, I. A.; Bertsche, C.; Besjes, G. J.; Bessidskaia Bylund, O.; Bessner, M.; Besson, N.; Bethani, A.; Bethke, S.; Betti, A.; Bevan, A. J.; Beyer, J.; Bianchi, R. M.; Biebel, O.; Biedermann, D.; Bielski, R.; Bierwagen, K.; Biesuz, N. V.; Biglietti, M.; Billoud, T. R. V.; Bilokon, H.; Bindi, M.; Bingul, A.; Bini, C.; Biondi, S.; Bisanz, T.; Bittrich, C.; Bjergaard, D. M.; Black, J. E.; Black, K. M.; Blair, R. E.; Blazek, T.; Bloch, I.; Blocker, C.; Blue, A.; Blumenschein, U.; Blunier, S.; Bobbink, G. J.; Bobrovnikov, V. S.; Bocchetta, S. S.; Bocci, A.; Bock, C.; Boehler, M.; Boerner, D.; Bogavac, D.; Bogdanchikov, A. G.; Bohm, C.; Boisvert, V.; Bokan, P.; Bold, T.; Boldyrev, A. S.; Bolz, A. E.; Bomben, M.; Bona, M.; Boonekamp, M.; Borisov, A.; Borissov, G.; Bortfeldt, J.; Bortoletto, D.; Bortolotto, V.; Boscherini, D.; Bosman, M.; Bossio Sola, J. D.; Boudreau, J.; Bouhova-Thacker, E. V.; Boumediene, D.; Bourdarios, C.; Boutle, S. K.; Boveia, A.; Boyd, J.; Boyko, I. R.; Bozson, A. J.; Bracinik, J.; Brandt, A.; Brandt, G.; Brandt, O.; Braren, F.; Bratzler, U.; Brau, B.; Brau, J. E.; Breaden Madden, W. D.; Brendlinger, K.; Brennan, A. J.; Brenner, L.; Brenner, R.; Bressler, S.; Briglin, D. L.; Bristow, T. M.; Britton, D.; Britzger, D.; Brochu, F. M.; Brock, I.; Brock, R.; Brooijmans, G.; Brooks, T.; Brooks, W. K.; Brosamer, J.; Brost, E.; Broughton, J. H.; Bruckman de Renstrom, P. A.; Bruncko, D.; Bruni, A.; Bruni, G.; Bruni, L. S.; Bruno, S.; Brunt, BH; Bruschi, M.; Bruscino, N.; Bryant, P.; Bryngemark, L.; Buanes, T.; Buat, Q.; Buchholz, P.; Buckley, A. G.; Budagov, I. A.; Buehrer, F.; Bugge, M. K.; Bulekov, O.; Bullock, D.; Burch, T. J.; Burdin, S.; Burgard, C. D.; Burger, A. M.; Burghgrave, B.; Burka, K.; Burke, S.; Burmeister, I.; Burr, J. T. P.; Büscher, D.; Büscher, V.; Bussey, P.; Butler, J. M.; Buttar, C. M.; Butterworth, J. M.; Butti, P.; Buttinger, W.; Buzatu, A.; Buzykaev, A. R.; Cabrera Urbán, S.; Caforio, D.; Cai, H.; Cairo, V. M.; Cakir, O.; Calace, N.; Calafiura, P.; Calandri, A.; Calderini, G.; Calfayan, P.; Callea, G.; Caloba, L. P.; Calvente Lopez, S.; Calvet, D.; Calvet, S.; Calvet, T. P.; Camacho Toro, R.; Camarda, S.; Camarri, P.; Cameron, D.; Caminal Armadans, R.; Camincher, C.; Campana, S.; Campanelli, M.; Camplani, A.; Campoverde, A.; Canale, V.; Cano Bret, M.; Cantero, J.; Cao, T.; Capeans Garrido, M. D. M.; Caprini, I.; Caprini, M.; Capua, M.; Carbone, R. M.; Cardarelli, R.; Cardillo, F.; Carli, I.; Carli, T.; Carlino, G.; Carlson, B. T.; Carminati, L.; Carney, R. M. D.; Caron, S.; Carquin, E.; Carrá, S.; Carrillo-Montoya, G. D.; Casadei, D.; Casado, M. P.; Casha, A. F.; Casolino, M.; Casper, D. W.; Castelijn, R.; Castillo Gimenez, V.; Castro, N. F.; Catinaccio, A.; Catmore, J. R.; Cattai, A.; Caudron, J.; Cavaliere, V.; Cavallaro, E.; Cavalli, D.; Cavalli-Sforza, M.; Cavasinni, V.; Celebi, E.; Ceradini, F.; Cerda Alberich, L.; Cerqueira, A. S.; Cerri, A.; Cerrito, L.; Cerutti, F.; Cervelli, A.; Cetin, S. A.; Chafaq, A.; Chakraborty, D.; Chan, S. K.; Chan, W. S.; Chan, Y. L.; Chang, P.; Chapman, J. D.; Charlton, D. G.; Chau, C. C.; Chavez Barajas, C. A.; Che, S.; Cheatham, S.; Chegwidden, A.; Chekanov, S.; Chekulaev, S. V.; Chelkov, G. A.; Chelstowska, M. A.; Chen, C.; Chen, C.; Chen, H.; Chen, J.; Chen, S.; Chen, S.; Chen, X.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, H. C.; Cheng, H. J.; Cheplakov, A.; Cheremushkina, E.; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R.; Cheu, E.; Cheung, K.; Chevalier, L.; Chiarella, V.; Chiarelli, G.; Chiodini, G.; Chisholm, A. S.; Chitan, A.; Chiu, Y. H.; Chizhov, M. V.; Choi, K.; Chomont, A. R.; Chouridou, S.; Chow, Y. S.; Christodoulou, V.; Chu, M. C.; Chudoba, J.; Chuinard, A. J.; Chwastowski, J. J.; Chytka, L.; Ciftci, A. K.; Cinca, D.; Cindro, V.; Cioara, I. A.; Ciocio, A.; Cirotto, F.; Citron, Z. H.; Citterio, M.; Ciubancan, M.; Clark, A.; Clark, B. L.; Clark, M. R.; Clark, P. J.; Clarke, R. N.; Clement, C.; Coadou, Y.; Cobal, M.; Coccaro, A.; Cochran, J.; Colasurdo, L.; Cole, B.; Colijn, A. P.; Collot, J.; Colombo, T.; Conde Muiño, P.; Coniavitis, E.; Connell, S. H.; Connelly, I. A.; Constantinescu, S.; Conti, G.; Conventi, F.; Cooke, M.; Cooper-Sarkar, A. M.; Cormier, F.; Cormier, K. J. R.; Corradi, M.; Corriveau, F.; Cortes-Gonzalez, A.; Costa, G.; Costa, M. J.; Costanzo, D.; Cottin, G.; Cowan, G.; Cox, B. E.; Cranmer, K.; Crawley, S. J.; Creager, R. A.; Cree, G.; Crépé-Renaudin, S.; Crescioli, F.; Cribbs, W. A.; Cristinziani, M.; Croft, V.; Crosetti, G.; Cueto, A.; Cuhadar Donszelmann, T.; Cukierman, A. R.; Cummings, J.; Curatolo, M.; Cúth, J.; Czekierda, S.; Czodrowski, P.; D'amen, G.; D'Auria, S.; D'eramo, L.; D'Onofrio, M.; Da Cunha Sargedas De Sousa, M. J.; Da Via, C.; Dabrowski, W.; Dado, T.; Dai, T.; Dale, O.; Dallaire, F.; Dallapiccola, C.; Dam, M.; Dandoy, J. R.; Daneri, M. F.; Dang, N. P.; Daniells, A. C.; Dann, N. S.; Danninger, M.; Dano Hoffmann, M.; Dao, V.; Darbo, G.; Darmora, S.; Dassoulas, J.; Dattagupta, A.; Daubney, T.; Davey, W.; David, C.; Davidek, T.; Davis, D. R.; Davison, P.; Dawe, E.; Dawson, I.; De, K.; de Asmundis, R.; De Benedetti, A.; De Castro, S.; De Cecco, S.; De Groot, N.; de Jong, P.; De la Torre, H.; De Lorenzi, F.; De Maria, A.; De Pedis, D.; De Salvo, A.; De Sanctis, U.; De Santo, A.; De Vasconcelos Corga, K.; De Vivie De Regie, J. B.; Debbe, R.; Debenedetti, C.; Dedovich, D. V.; Dehghanian, N.; Deigaard, I.; Del Gaudio, M.; Del Peso, J.; Delgove, D.; Deliot, F.; Delitzsch, C. M.; Dell'Acqua, A.; Dell'Asta, L.; Dell'Orso, M.; Della Pietra, M.; della Volpe, D.; Delmastro, M.; Delporte, C.; Delsart, P. A.; DeMarco, D. A.; Demers, S.; Demichev, M.; Demilly, A.; Denisov, S. P.; Denysiuk, D.; Derendarz, D.; Derkaoui, J. E.; Derue, F.; Dervan, P.; Desch, K.; Deterre, C.; Dette, K.; Devesa, M. R.; Deviveiros, P. O.; Dewhurst, A.; Dhaliwal, S.; Di Bello, F. A.; Di Ciaccio, A.; Di Ciaccio, L.; Di Clemente, W. K.; Di Donato, C.; Di Girolamo, A.; Di Girolamo, B.; Di Micco, B.; Di Nardo, R.; Di Petrillo, K. F.; Di Simone, A.; Di Sipio, R.; Di Valentino, D.; Diaconu, C.; Diamond, M.; Dias, F. A.; Diaz, M. A.; Diehl, E. B.; Dietrich, J.; Díez Cornell, S.; Dimitrievska, A.; Dingfelder, J.; Dita, P.; Dita, S.; Dittus, F.; Djama, F.; Djobava, T.; Djuvsland, J. I.; do Vale, M. A. B.; Dobos, D.; Dobre, M.; Dodsworth, D.; Doglioni, C.; Dolejsi, J.; Dolezal, Z.; Donadelli, M.; Donati, S.; Dondero, P.; Donini, J.; Dopke, J.; Doria, A.; Dova, M. T.; Doyle, A. T.; Drechsler, E.; Dris, M.; Du, Y.; Duarte-Campderros, J.; Dubinin, F.; Dubreuil, A.; Duchovni, E.; Duckeck, G.; Ducourthial, A.; Ducu, O. A.; Duda, D.; Dudarev, A.; Dudder, A. Chr.; Duffield, E. M.; Duflot, L.; Dührssen, M.; Dulsen, C.; Dumancic, M.; Dumitriu, A. E.; Duncan, A. K.; Dunford, M.; Duperrin, A.; Duran Yildiz, H.; Düren, M.; Durglishvili, A.; Duschinger, D.; Dutta, B.; Duvnjak, D.; Dyndal, M.; Dziedzic, B. S.; Eckardt, C.; Ecker, K. M.; Edgar, R. C.; Eifert, T.; Eigen, G.; Einsweiler, K.; Ekelof, T.; El Kacimi, M.; El Kosseifi, R.; Ellajosyula, V.; Ellert, M.; Elles, S.; Ellinghaus, F.; Elliot, A. A.; Ellis, N.; Elmsheuser, J.; Elsing, M.; Emeliyanov, D.; Enari, Y.; Ennis, J. S.; Epland, M. B.; Erdmann, J.; Ereditato, A.; Ernst, M.; Errede, S.; Escalier, M.; Escobar, C.; Esposito, B.; Estrada Pastor, O.; Etienvre, A. I.; Etzion, E.; Evans, H.; Ezhilov, A.; Ezzi, M.; Fabbri, F.; Fabbri, L.; Fabiani, V.; Facini, G.; Fakhrutdinov, R. M.; Falciano, S.; Falla, R. J.; Faltova, J.; Fang, Y.; Fanti, M.; Farbin, A.; Farilla, A.; Farina, C.; Farina, E. M.; Farooque, T.; Farrell, S.; Farrington, S. M.; Farthouat, P.; Fassi, F.; Fassnacht, P.; Fassouliotis, D.; Faucci Giannelli, M.; Favareto, A.; Fawcett, W. J.; Fayard, L.; Fedin, O. L.; Fedorko, W.; Feigl, S.; Feligioni, L.; Feng, C.; Feng, E. J.; Fenton, M. J.; Fenyuk, A. B.; Feremenga, L.; Fernandez Martinez, P.; Ferrando, J.; Ferrari, A.; Ferrari, P.; Ferrari, R.; Ferreira de Lima, D. E.; Ferrer, A.; Ferrere, D.; Ferretti, C.; Fiedler, F.; Filipčič, A.; Filipuzzi, M.; Filthaut, F.; Fincke-Keeler, M.; Finelli, K. D.; Fiolhais, M. C. N.; Fiorini, L.; Fischer, A.; Fischer, C.; Fischer, J.; Fisher, W. C.; Flaschel, N.; Fleck, I.; Fleischmann, P.; Fletcher, R. R. M.; Flick, T.; Flierl, B. M.; Flores Castillo, L. R.; Flowerdew, M. J.; Forcolin, G. T.; Formica, A.; Förster, F. A.; Forti, A.; Foster, A. G.; Fournier, D.; Fox, H.; Fracchia, S.; Francavilla, P.; Franchini, M.; Franchino, S.; Francis, D.; Franconi, L.; Franklin, M.; Frate, M.; Fraternali, M.; Freeborn, D.; Fressard-Batraneanu, S. M.; Freund, B.; Froidevaux, D.; Frost, J. A.; Fukunaga, C.; Fusayasu, T.; Fuster, J.; Gabizon, O.; Gabrielli, A.; Gabrielli, A.; Gach, G. P.; Gadatsch, S.; Gadomski, S.; Gagliardi, G.; Gagnon, L. G.; Galea, C.; Galhardo, B.; Gallas, E. J.; Gallop, B. J.; Gallus, P.; Galster, G.; Gan, K. K.; Ganguly, S.; Gao, Y.; Gao, Y. S.; Garay Walls, F. M.; García, C.; García Navarro, J. E.; García Pascual, J. A.; Garcia-Sciveres, M.; Gardner, R. W.; Garelli, N.; Garonne, V.; Gascon Bravo, A.; Gasnikova, K.; Gatti, C.; Gaudiello, A.; Gaudio, G.; Gavrilenko, I. L.; Gay, C.; Gaycken, G.; Gazis, E. N.; Gee, C. N. P.; Geisen, J.; Geisen, M.; Geisler, M. P.; Gellerstedt, K.; Gemme, C.; Genest, M. H.; Geng, C.; Gentile, S.; Gentsos, C.; George, S.; Gerbaudo, D.; Geßner, G.; Ghasemi, S.; Ghneimat, M.; Giacobbe, B.; Giagu, S.; Giangiacomi, N.; Giannetti, P.; Gibson, S. M.; Gignac, M.; Gilchriese, M.; Gillberg, D.; Gilles, G.; Gingrich, D. M.; Giordani, M. P.; Giorgi, F. M.; Giraud, P. F.; Giromini, P.; Giugliarelli, G.; Giugni, D.; Giuli, F.; Giuliani, C.; Giulini, M.; Gjelsten, B. K.; Gkaitatzis, S.; Gkialas, I.; Gkougkousis, E. L.; Gkountoumis, P.; Gladilin, L. K.; Glasman, C.; Glatzer, J.; Glaysher, P. C. F.; Glazov, A.; Goblirsch-Kolb, M.; Godlewski, J.; Goldfarb, S.; Golling, T.; Golubkov, D.; Gomes, A.; Gonçalo, R.; Goncalves Gama, R.; Goncalves Pinto Firmino Da Costa, J.; Gonella, G.; Gonella, L.; Gongadze, A.; Gonski, J. L.; González de la Hoz, S.; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S.; Goossens, L.; Gorbounov, P. A.; Gordon, H. A.; Gorelov, I.; Gorini, B.; Gorini, E.; Gorišek, A.; Goshaw, A. T.; Gössling, C.; Gostkin, M. I.; Gottardo, C. A.; Goudet, C. R.; Goujdami, D.; Goussiou, A. G.; Govender, N.; Gozani, E.; Grabowska-Bold, I.; Gradin, P. O. J.; Gramling, J.; Gramstad, E.; Grancagnolo, S.; Gratchev, V.; Gravila, P. M.; Gray, C.; Gray, H. M.; Greenwood, Z. D.; Grefe, C.; Gregersen, K.; Gregor, I. M.; Grenier, P.; Grevtsov, K.; Griffiths, J.; Grillo, A. A.; Grimm, K.; Grinstein, S.; Gris, Ph.; Grivaz, J.-F.; Groh, S.; Gross, E.; Grosse-Knetter, J.; Grossi, G. C.; Grout, Z. J.; Grummer, A.; Guan, L.; Guan, W.; Guenther, J.; Guescini, F.; Guest, D.; Gueta, O.; Gui, B.; Guido, E.; Guillemin, T.; Guindon, S.; Gul, U.; Gumpert, C.; Guo, J.; Guo, W.; Guo, Y.; Gupta, R.; Gurbuz, S.; Gustavino, G.; Gutelman, B. J.; Gutierrez, P.; Gutierrez Ortiz, N. G.; Gutschow, C.; Guyot, C.; Guzik, M. P.; Gwenlan, C.; Gwilliam, C. B.; Haas, A.; Haber, C.; Hadavand, H. K.; Haddad, N.; Hadef, A.; Hageböck, S.; Hagihara, M.; Hakobyan, H.; Haleem, M.; Haley, J.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G. 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2018-03-01

The coupling properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the four-lepton ( e, μ) decay channel using 36.1 fb-1 of pp collision data from the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are measured for the main production modes in several exclusive regions of the Higgs boson production phase space and are interpreted in terms of coupling modifiers. The inclusive cross section times branching ratio for H → ZZ ∗ decay and for a Higgs boson absolute rapidity below 2.5 is measured to be 1. 73 - 0.23 + 0.24 (stat.) - 0.08 + 0.10 (exp.) ± 0.04(th.) pb compared to the Standard Model prediction of 1 .34±0 .09 pb. In addition, the tensor structure of the Higgs boson couplings is studied using an effective Lagrangian approach for the description of interactions beyond the Standard Model. Constraints are placed on the non-Standard-Model CP-even and CP-odd couplings to Z bosons and on the CP-odd coupling to gluons. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Woman-centred care during pregnancy and birth in Ireland: thematic analysis of women's and clinicians' experiences.

PubMed

Hunter, Andrew; Devane, Declan; Houghton, Catherine; Grealish, Annmarie; Tully, Agnes; Smith, Valerie

2017-09-25

Recent policy and service provision recommends a woman-centred approach to maternity care. Midwife-led models of care are seen as one important strategy for enhancing women's choice; a core element of woman-centred care. In the Republic of Ireland, an obstetric consultant-led, midwife-managed service model currently predominates and there is limited exploration of the concept of women centred care from the perspectives of those directly involved; that is, women, midwives, general practitioners and obstetricians. This study considers women's and clinicians' views, experiences and perspectives of woman-centred maternity care in Ireland. A descriptive qualitative design. Participants (n = 31) were purposively sampled from two geographically distinct maternity units. Interviews were face-to-face or over the telephone, one-to-one or focus groups. A thematic analysis of the interview data was performed. Five major themes representing women's and clinicians' views, experiences and perspectives of women-centred care emerged from the data. These were Protecting Normality, Education and Decision Making, Continuity, Empowerment for Women-Centred Care and Building Capacity for Women-Centred Care. Within these major themes, sub-themes emerged that reflect key elements of women-centred care. These were respect, partnership in decision making, information sharing, educational impact, continuity of service, staff continuity and availability, genuine choice, promoting women's autonomy, individualized care, staff competency and practice organization. Women centred-care, as perceived by participants in this study, is not routinely provided in Ireland and women subscribe to the dominant culture that views safety as paramount. Women-centred care can best be facilitated through continuity of carer and in particular through midwife led models of care; however, there is potential to provide women-centred care within existing labour wards in terms of consistency of care, education of