Corrections to finite-size scaling in two-dimensional O(N) sigma-models

We have considered the corrections to the finite-size-scaling functions for a general class of $O(N)$ $\sigma$-models with two-spin interactions in two dimensions for $N=\infty$. We have computed the leading corrections finding that they generically behave as $(f(z) \log L + g(z))/L^2$ where $z = m(L) L$ and $m(L)$ is a mass scale; $f(z)$ vanishes for Symanzik improved actions for which the inverse propagator behaves as $q^2 + O(q^6)$ for small $q$, but not for on-shell improved ones. We also discuss a model with four-spin interactions which shows a much more complicated behaviour.Comment: Talk presented at LATTICE96(other models) Postscript file avalaible at http://www1.le.infn.it:8080/~caraccio/TCMS.htm

Improving Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) Screening and Treatment in a School-Based Setting

Abstract Background: San Diego County’s tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate is nearly double than the national rate. In 2019, there have been 5 cases of active TB in the county’s public high schools, which have demonstrated the need for prevention interventions in this setting. Objectives: This evidence-based project is aimed to increase awareness, screening and treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) in the school setting. Methods: A TB risk assessment form and consent was sent in the registration packets. A one-time TB educational presentation was given to high school freshman students with a pretest and posttest. For students at-risk, a confidential package was mailed out to parents recommending testing along with a letter to the child’s provider offering the option of rifapentine and isoniazid (3HP) to be given at school. Incentives were provided throughout the program. Results: Following an educational intervention, there was an 18% increase. Out of the 243 Freshman cluster students, 92 (38%) of forms were returned. Approximately 68% of students were found to be at risk. Conclusions: Like the pilot project, there was a low return of TB risk assessments but a high percentage of students at risk. Future assessments will be needed to determine improving screening effort

‘Involved in every step’: how working practices shape the influence of physiotherapists in elite sport

This paper examines how the medical and non-medical skills of physiotherapists enable members of the profession to become central agents in the multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) which dominate sports health care. Drawing on empirical data derived from interviews with sports physiotherapists and doctors working in UK Olympic sport MDTs, this article argues that the role and influence of physiotherapy in elite sports health care can be explained in relation to physiotherapy’s working practice traditions and the degree to which these traditions correspond to their specific patients’ demands. Drawing on concepts such as medical dominance and relative practice autonomy drawn from the sociology of medicine, the paper argues that extended time, close physical contact and opportunities for experiential learning foster physiotherapist–patient mutuality, locate the physiotherapist as an inherent part of the recovery process and lead to trusting and collaborative health care relations. The practice traditions of physiotherapy enable these practitioners to respond flexibly to the particular demands of elite sports clients, intertwining athletes’ performance orientation with physiotherapists’ treatment through blurring the boundary between health care and sports training. Physiotherapists thus become seen as ‘useful’ in the eyes of the clients who shape the demand for health care delivery in elite sport

Out-of-equilibrium tricritical point in a system with long-range interactions

Systems with long-range interactions display a short-time relaxation towards Quasi Stationary States (QSSs) whose lifetime increases with system size. With reference to the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model, we here show that a maximum entropy principle, based on Lynden-Bell's pioneering idea of "violent relaxation", predicts the presence of out-of-equilibrium phase transitions separating the relaxation towards homogeneous (zero magnetization) or inhomogeneous (non zero magnetization) QSSs. When varying the initial condition within a family of "water-bags" with different initial magnetization and energy, first and second order phase transition lines are found that merge at an out--of--equilibrium tricritical point. Metastability is theoretically predicted and numerically checked around the first-order phase transition line.Comment: Physical Review Letters (2007

A Systematic Review and Development of Best Practice in the Usage of Video Recording During Debriefing of Simulation with Undergraduate Nursing Students

The purpose of this evidence based project was to evaluate current literature and synthesize the best practice guidelines for debriefing and video-assisted debriefing (VAD) as it relates to simulation-based learning for undergraduate nursing students. Presently, high fidelity patient simulators (HFPS) and various debriefing techniques are used in many different occupational fields. Facilitator led verbal debriefing is a standard practice in nursing schools following a simulation to guide student reflection and learning. Newer technology, however, is now allowing for video-recording and annotation of simulations for enhanced debriefing sessions and can be used for immediate review. Some evidence-based guidelines exist for standard debriefing; however, there is limited research for both VAD and the facilitator’s role. This project provides an operational definition which promotes assimilation into real-world practice by explaining the attributes of VAD: reflection, feedback, self-efficacy, and behavioral identification. Guidelines focus on tools for the facilitator to lead a VAD session. The Kolb Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and framework was used for this project (Kolb, 1984)

The provision of medical care in English professional football: An update

Objectives - To compare the current methods of appointment, qualifications and occupational experience of club doctors and physiotherapists in English professional football with (i) those outlined in a study published in 1999, and (ii) Football Association (FA) medical regulations. Design - Qualitative. Methods - Postal questionnaire survey of (head) doctors and physiotherapists at each of the clubs in the English Premiership, Championship and Football Leagues 1 and 2. Response rates of 35.8% and 45.6% respectively were obtained. Results - The majority of football club doctors are GPs who have sports medicine qualifications and relevant occupational experience. Time commitments vary from full time to a few hours per week. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job advertisements and/or interview. Almost all football clubs have a chartered physiotherapist, many of whom have a postgraduate qualification. They work full time and long hours. Most are appointed through personal contacts rather than job advertisements. They are frequently interviewed but not always by someone qualified to judge their professional expertise. Conclusions - Football club medical provision has become more extensive and increasingly professional over the last 10-–20 years, with better qualified, more career-oriented and more formally contracted staff. It is likely that clinical autonomy has subsequently increased. However recruitment procedures still need to be improved, especially in relation to advertising vacancies, interviewing candidates, and including medical personnel on interview panels. In two aspects clubs appear not to be compliant with current FA medical regulations

The social management of medical ethics in sport: confidentiality in English professional football

This paper examines one of the major ethical challenges in the practice of sports medicine, confidentiality. Drawing on interview and questionnaire data with doctors and physiotherapists working in English professional football clubs, it explores the degree to which ethical compliance has improved since the publication of, and publicity surrounding, an earlier study of medical practice in professional football conducted by Waddington and Roderick. Thus, it provides an updated empirical examination of the management of medical ethics in sport. The data illustrate how the physical and social environmental constraints of sports medicine practice impinge upon the protection of athlete-patient confidentiality, how ethical codes and conflicting obligations converge to shape clinician behaviour in relation to lifestyle and injury issues, and the ethically problematic contractual constraints under which clinicians and athletes operate. It demonstrates that medical ethical practice continues to be very variable and draws on Freidson’s work on medical ‘work settings’ to argue that there is a need to augment existing confidentiality policies with more structurally oriented approaches to ensure both professional autonomy and medical ethical compliance in sport