26,642 research outputs found
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Patient perceptions of epinephrine auto-injectors: Exploring barriers to use
Background: In recent years, government initiatives have proposed that patient self-care should serve as a key resource in response to the anticipated increase in global demand for health care. However, if patients are to be empowered as self-carers, barriers to engagement must be identified and overcome. Anaphylaxis is an increasingly common life threatening allergic reaction. Patients at risk of anaphylaxis are prescribed epinephrine auto-injectors and play a crucial role in delivering their own care and management of this condition. One key recommendation is that patients routinely carry an epinephrine auto-injector with them, and deploy the device when needed. However, only a small proportion of patients that require epinephrine actually receive it. Objective: To explore the reasons why patients who have been prescribed epinephrine auto-injectors fail to adhere to self-care and management recommendations. Methods: In-depth interviews with 15 adults who have been prescribed epinephrine auto-injectors were carried out to explore the barriers that exist in the provision of effective self-care and management of anaphylaxis. Results: Inconsistent health professional advice, perceived stigma of carrying a ‘weapon-like’ device, poor device design and limited patient training were identified as barriers to carriage or use. Patients were reluctant to carry devices in public because of perceived and observed stigma and suspicion. They were happy to ignore expiry dates and some participants were confident that the emergency services would provide them with the appropriate care they needed, and therefore did not carry the device in urban areas. Conclusions and clinical implications: Improved training of patients, the public and health professionals around both the carriage and use of auto-injectors are areas for urgent attention if improved levels of self-care are to be attained. The design of epinephrine auto-injectors should also receive attention as patients often fail to carry them due to size and aesthetics. Key words: Adherence, allergy, anaphylaxis, empowerment, epinephrine, self-care, self-management, patient perspectivesThis study was funded by grant number Ref: GR/S29874/01 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Temperature dependence of the average electron-hole pair creation energy in Al0.8Ga0.2As
The temperature dependence of the average energy consumed in the creation of an electron-hole pair in the wide bandgap compound semiconductor Al 0.8Ga0.2As is reported following X-ray measurements made using an Al0.8Ga0.2As photodiode diode coupled to a low-noise charge-sensitive preamplifier operating in spectroscopic photon counting mode. The temperature dependence is reported over the range of 261 K-342 K and is found to be best represented by the equation ε AlGaAs 7.327-0.0077 T, where εAlGaAs is the average electron-hole pair creation energy in eV and T is the temperature in K. © 2013 © 2013 Author(s)
A Socio-Informatic Approach to Automated Account Classification on Social Media
Automated accounts on social media have become increasingly problematic. We
propose a key feature in combination with existing methods to improve machine
learning algorithms for bot detection. We successfully improve classification
performance through including the proposed feature.Comment: International Conference on Social Media and Societ
Optimal minimum-cost quantum measurements for imperfect detection
Knowledge of optimal quantum measurements is important for a wide range of
situations, including quantum communication and quantum metrology. Quantum
measurements are usually optimised with an ideal experimental realisation in
mind. Real devices and detectors are, however, imperfect. This has to be taken
into account when optimising quantum measurements. In this paper, we derive the
optimal minimum-cost and minimum-error measurements for a general model of
imperfect detection.Comment: 5 page
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Early in-bed cycling versus usual care in the ICU on muscle atrophy and mobility: A randomized trial
GaAsP on GaP top solar cells
GaAsP on GaP top solar cells as an attachment to silicon bottom solar cells are being developed. The GaAsP on GaP system offers several advantages for this top solar cell. The most important is that the gallium phosphide substrate provides a rugged, transparent mechanical substrate which does not have to be removed or thinned during processing. Additional advantages are that: (1) gallium phosphide is more oxidation resistant than the III-V aluminum compounds, (2) a range of energy band gaps higher than 1.75 eV is readily available for system efficiency optimization, (3) reliable ohmic contact technology is available from the light-emitting diode industry, and (4) the system readily lends itself to graded band gap structures for additional increases in efficiency
Transition state theory and the dynamics of hard disks
The dynamics of two and five disk systems confined in a square has been
studied using molecular dynamics simulations and compared with the predictions
of transition state theory. We determine the partition functions Z and
Z^\ddagger of transition state theory using a procedure first used by Salsburg
and Wood for the pressure. Our simulations show this procedure and transition
state theory are in excellent agreement with the simulations. A generalization
of the transition state theory to the case of a large number of disks N is made
and shown to be in full agreement with simulations of disks moving in a narrow
channel. The same procedure for hard spheres in three dimensions leads to the
Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann formula for their alpha relaxation time.Comment: 1 new author, new simulations and figures, less speculation. Now 6
pages, 6 figures, 1 animation. Animation may be viewed at
http://www.theory.physics.manchester.ac.uk/~godfrey/supplement/activated_dynamics2.htm
Discrimination of two mixed quantum states with maximum confidence and minimum probability of inconclusive results
We study an optimized measurement that discriminates two mixed quantum states
with maximum confidence for each conclusive result, thereby keeping the overall
probability of inconclusive results as small as possible. When the rank of the
detection operators associated with the two different conclusive outcomes does
not exceed unity we obtain a general solution. As an application, we consider
the discrimination of two mixed qubit states. Moreover, for the case of
higher-rank detection operators we give a solution for particular states. The
relation of the optimized measurement to other discrimination schemes is also
discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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