Stability of the pentaquark in a naive string model

The pentaquark is studied in a simple model of confinement where the quarks and the antiquark are linked by flux tubes of minimal cumulated length, and the Coulomb-like interaction, the spin-dependent terms and the antisymmetrization constraints are neglected.. The ground-state is found to be stable against spontaneous dissociation into a meson and a baryon, both in the case of five equal-mass constituents and for a static quark or antiquark surrounded by four equal masses.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, minor corrections, references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The Economic Impact of Lower Extremity Amputations in Diabetics. a Retrospective Study From a Tertiary Care Hospital of Faisalabad, Pakistan

Background: Among the various complications of diabetes, lower-extremity amputation due to diabetic foot is a common problem. In Pakistan, 6-7% of patients with diabetes suffer from diabetic foot ulceration. Objectives: Our primary objective was to explore the frequency of diabetic foot amputations, and the secondary objective was to calculate the economic burden of these preventable surgeries on the health budget of the provincial government. Materials & Methods: It was a retrospective cross-sectional observational study conducted after obtaining approval from the Ethical Review Committee of Allied hospital, Faisalabad Medical University. The data of diabetic foot patients who underwent amputations between July 2017 and December 2017 were retrieved from three Surgical Units (I, II & III), using a purposive sampling technique. All amputations carried out for reasons other than diabetic foot were excluded. The direct medical cost of one diabetic foot amputation was calculated via a local survey of the various private hospitals of Faisalabad. The indirect costs in terms of loss of productivity and disability costs, transport costs, rehabilitation costs were not included in this study. The data were evaluated by using SPSS Version 23. Results: A total of 85 patients were included in our study. The male to female ratio was 2.7 to 1. The mean direct treatment cost for minor amputation was PKR 46926.00 ± 11730.90 ($382.35 ± 95.58), and the mean direct treatment cost for major amputation was PKR 53720.00 ± 12401.24 ($437.71 ± 101.40). Out of 85 amputations, 63 (74%) were major amputations, and the remaining 22 (26%) were minor amputations. The total cost for 63 major amputations was PKR 3,384,360 ($27568.91) and for 22 minor amputation was PKR 1,032,372 ($8409.67). The net cost came out to be PKR 4,416,732 ($35978.59) for all the 85 cases being reported in a tertiary care hospital of Faisalabad for six months. Conclusion: Diabetic foot, a preventable complication of long-term diabetes mellitus, has an economic burden on the hospital budget, which, if adequately addressed via primary prevention programme, can yield not just economical but medical benefits as well

Where energy flows, passion grows: testing a moderated mediation model of work passion through a cross-cultural lens

This study examines how and when passionate leaders can instigate work passion in their followers. We propose relational energy as a social interaction mediator that can facilitate the crossover of work passion from leader to followers. Additionally, we introduce a moderator of culture (Anglo culture, e.g., Canada vs. Confucian Asian culture, e.g., China) as it plays a vital role in the dynamics of interpersonal relations within a leader-follower dyad. We collected two-wave data from MBA students of two Confucian Asian countries (China and Singapore, n = 120) and two Anglo countries (Canada and Australia, n = 265) to test our moderated mediation model. The results show that interactions with passionate leaders can generate relational energy in followers and subsequently lead to followers’ passion for work. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the moderating effect of culture, such that the leader-follower work passion relationship via follower relational energy was stronger for followers from Anglo culture than the followers from Confucian Asian culture. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed

Trust, Identity, Privacy, and Security Considerations For Designing a Peer Data Sharing Platform Between People Living With HIV

Resulting from treatment advances, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) is now a long-term condition, and digital solutions are being developed to support people living with HIV in self-management. Sharing their health data with their peers may support self-management, but the trust, identity, privacy and security (TIPS) considerations of people living with HIV remain underexplored. Working with a peer researcher who is expert in the lived experience of HIV, we interviewed 26 people living with HIV in the United Kingdom (UK) to investigate how to design a peer data sharing platform. We also conducted rating activities with participants to capture their atitudes towards sharing personal data. Our mixed methods study showed that participants were highly sophisticated in their understanding of trust and in their requirements for robust privacy and security. Tey indicated willingness to share digital identity atributes, including gender, age, medical history, health and well-being data, but not details that could reveal their personal identity. Participants called for TIPS measures to foster and to sustain responsible data sharing within their community. Tese findings can inform the development of trustworthy and secure digital platforms that enable people living with HIV to share data with their peers and provide insights for researchers who wish to facilitate data sharing in other communities with stigmatised health conditions

More on volume dependence of spectral weight function

Spectral weight functions are easily obtained from two-point correlation functions and they might be used to distinguish single-particle from multi-particle states in a finite-volume lattice calculation, a problem crucial for many lattice QCD simulations. In previous studies, it is shown that the spectral weight function for a broad resonance shares the typical volume dependence of a two-particle scattering state i.e. proportional to $1/L^3$ in a large cubic box of size $L$ while the narrow resonance case requires further investigation. In this paper, a generalized formula is found for the spectral weight function which incorporates both narrow and broad resonance cases. Within L\"uscher's formalism, it is shown that the volume dependence of the spectral weight function exhibits a single-particle behavior for a extremely narrow resonance and a two-particle behavior for a broad resonance. The corresponding formulas for both $A^+_1$ and $T^-_1$ channels are derived. The potential application of these formulas in the extraction of resonance parameters are also discussed

Patient-generated data in the management of HIV: a scoping review

Objectives Patient-generated data (PGData) are an emergent research area and may improve HIV care. The objectives of this scoping review were to synthesise, evaluate and make recommendations based on the available literature regarding PGData use in HIV care. Design Scoping review. Data sources Embase, Medline, CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and Emcare databases. Eligibility criteria Studies involving PGData use within HIV care for people living with HIV and/or healthcare professionals (HCPs) published before February 2021. Data extraction and synthesis Data were extracted using a table and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess empirical rigour. We used thematic analysis to evaluate content. Results 11 articles met the eligibility criteria. Studies were observational, predominantly concerned hypothetical or novel digital platforms, mainly conducted in high-income settings, and had small sample sizes (range=10–160). There were multiple definitions of PGData. In the majority of studies (n=9), participants were people living with HIV, with a few studies including HCPs, informatics specialists or mixed participant groups. Participants living with HIV were aged 23–78 years, mostly men, of diverse ethnicities, and had low educational, health literacy and income levels. We identified four key themes: (1) Perceptions of PGData and associated digital platforms; (2) Opportunities; (3) Anticipated barriers and (4) Potential impact on patient–HCP relationships. Conclusions Use of PGData within HIV care warrants further study, especially with regard to digital inequalities, data privacy and security. There is a need for longitudinal data on use within HIV in a variety of settings with a broad range of users, including impact on clinical outcomes. This will allow greater understanding of the role of PGData use in improving the health and well-being of people living with HIV, which is increasingly pertinent as digital healthcare becomes more widespread as a result of COVID-19

Trust, Identity, Privacy, and Security Considerations for Designing a Peer Data Sharing Platform Between People Living With HIV

Resulting from treatment advances, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is now a long-term condition, and digital solutions are being developed to support people living with HIV in self-management. Sharing their health data with their peers may support self-management, but the trust, identity, privacy and security (TIPS) considerations of people living with HIV remain underexplored. Working with a peer researcher who is expert in the lived experience of HIV, we interviewed 26 people living with HIV in the United Kingdom (UK) to investigate how to design a peer data sharing platform. We also conducted rating activities with participants to capture their attitudes towards sharing personal data. Our mixed methods study showed that participants were highly sophisticated in their understanding of trust and in their requirements for robust privacy and security. They indicated willingness to share digital identity attributes, including gender, age, medical history, health and well-being data, but not details that could reveal their personal identity. Participants called for TIPS measures to foster and to sustain responsible data sharing within their community. These findings can inform the development of trustworthy and secure digital platforms that enable people living with HIV to share data with their peers and provide insights for researchers who wish to facilitate data sharing in other communities with stigmatised health conditions

Malnutrition amongst Under-Five Years Children in Swat, Pakistan: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Purpose: To identify malnourished cases and determine their relationship with weaning time and socioeconomic factors in under-5 children in Swat, Pakistan.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Pediatric Ward and Outpatients Department (OPD), Saidu Teaching Hospital, Swat, Pakistan using case files from October to December 2011.Results: A total of 186 children were studied to identify malnutrition, out of which 101 (37.7 %) were male and 85 (32.0 %) female. Moreover, 95 (35.7 %) of the mothers were < 30 years of age and 91 (34.0 %) > 30 years. About 33.7 % of the children were weaned before the age of 4 months. The maternal age of 28.6 % of the malnourished children was < 20 years, and about 2l % of the malnourished children were not immunized against eight EPI (Expanded Program on Immunization) target diseases, viz, poliomyelitis, neonatal tetanus, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis-B, Hib pneumonia & meningitis, and childhood tuberculosis. Respondents from urban location 98 (36.7 %), while 88 (33.0 %). Based on Gomezfs classification, out of 186 children, 19 (7.1 %) werevictims of malnutrition; mothers of 35.6 % of the children were uneducated and 25.5 % had primary level (5 years) education. The number of siblings per mother was . 5 in the case of 64.8 % of the malnourished children. More than half of the children were at risk of malnutrition.Conclusion: The incidence of malnutrition is about the same for both male and female children. Risk factors for malnutrition in the children include lack of education, teenage pregnancy, lack of immunization, and large family size.Keywords: Malnutrition, Gomezfs classification, Weaning time, Risk  factors, Teenage pregnancy, Swa