Patient satisfaction and survey response in 717 hospital surveys in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study.

The association between patient satisfaction and survey response is only partly understood. In this study, we describe the association between average satisfaction and survey response rate across hospital surveys, and model the association between satisfaction and propensity to respond for individual patients. Secondary analysis of patient responses (166'014 respondents) and of average satisfaction scores and response rates obtained in 717 annual patient satisfaction surveys conducted between 2011 and 2015 at 164 Swiss hospitals. The satisfaction score was the average of 5 items scored between 0 and 10. The association between satisfaction and response propensity in individuals was modeled as the function that predicted best the observed response rates across surveys. Among the 717 surveys, response rates ranged from 16.1 to 80.0% (pooled average 49.8%), and average satisfaction scores ranged from 8.36 to 9.79 (pooled mean 9.15). At the survey level, the mean satisfaction score and response rate were correlated (r = 0.61). This correlation held for all subgroups of surveys, except for the 5 large university hospitals. The estimated individual response propensity function was "J-shaped": the probability of responding was lowest (around 20%) for satisfaction scores between 3 and 7, increased sharply to about 70% for those maximally satisfied, and increased slightly for the least satisfied. Average satisfaction scores projected for 100% participation were lower than observed average scores. The most satisfied patients were the most likely to participate in a post-hospitalization satisfaction survey. This tendency produces an upward bias in observed satisfaction scores, and a positive correlation between average satisfaction and response rate across surveys

Block circulant matrices with circulant blocks, weil sums and mutually unbiased bases, II. The prime power case

In our previous paper \cite{co1} we have shown that the theory of circulant matrices allows to recover the result that there exists $p+1$ Mutually Unbiased Bases in dimension $p$, $p$ being an arbitrary prime number. Two orthonormal bases $\mathcal B, \mathcal B'$ of $\mathbb C^d$ are said mutually unbiased if $\forall b\in \mathcal B, \forall b' \in \mathcal B'$ one has that $$| b\cdot b'| = \frac{1}{\sqrt d}$$ ($b\cdot b'$ hermitian scalar product in $\mathbb C^d$). In this paper we show that the theory of block-circulant matrices with circulant blocks allows to show very simply the known result that if $d=p^n$ ($p$ a prime number, $n$ any integer) there exists $d+1$ mutually Unbiased Bases in $\mathbb C^d$. Our result relies heavily on an idea of Klimov, Munoz, Romero \cite{klimuro}. As a subproduct we recover properties of quadratic Weil sums for $p\ge 3$, which generalizes the fact that in the prime case the quadratic Gauss sums properties follow from our results

Coherent-State Approach to Two-dimensional Electron Magnetism

We study in this paper the possible occurrence of orbital magnetim for two-dimensional electrons confined by a harmonic potential in various regimes of temperature and magnetic field. Standard coherent state families are used for calculating symbols of various involved observables like thermodynamical potential, magnetic moment, or spatialdistribution of current. Their expressions are given in a closed form and the resulting Berezin-Lieb inequalities provide a straightforward way to study magnetism in various limit regimes. In particular, we predict a paramagnetic behaviour in the thermodynamical limit as well as in the quasiclassical limit under a weak field. Eventually, we obtain an exact expression for the magnetic moment which yields a full description of the phase diagram of the magnetization.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

Whole brain radiotherapy with a conformational external beam radiation boost for lung cancer patients with 1-3 brain metastasis: a multi institutional study

BACKGROUND: To determine the outcome of patients with brain metastasis (BM) from lung cancer treated with an external beam radiotherapy boost (RTB) after whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). METHODS: A total of 53 BM patients with lung cancer were treated sequentially with WBRT and RTB between 1996 and 2008 according to our institutional protocol. Mean age was 58.8 years. The median KPS was 90. Median recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) and graded prognostic assessment (GPA) grouping were 2 and 2.5, respectively. Surgery was performed on 38 (71%) patients. The median number of BM was 1 (range, 1-3). Median WBRT and RTB combined dose was 39 Gy (range, 37.5-54). Median follow-up was 12.0 months. RESULTS: During the period of follow-up, 37 (70%) patients died. The median overall survival (OS) was 14.5 months. Only 13 patients failed in the brain. The majority of patients (n = 29) failed distantly. The 1-year OS, -local control, extracranial failure rates were 61.2%, 75.2% and 60.8%, respectively. On univariate analysis, improved OS was found to be significantly associated with total dose (< or = 39 Gy vs. > 39 Gy; p < 0.01), age < 65 (p < 0.01), absence of extracranial metastasis (p < 0.01), GPA > or = 2.5 (p = 0.01), KPS > or = 90 (p = 0.01), and RPA < 2 (p = 0.04). On multivariate analysis, total dose (p < 0.01) and the absence of extracranial metastasis (p = 0.03) retained statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of lung cancer patients treated with WBRT and RTB progressed extracranially. There might be a subgroup of younger patients with good performance status and no extracranial disease who may benefit from dose escalation after WBRT to the metastatic site

Nonlinear coherent states and Ehrenfest time for Schrodinger equation

We consider the propagation of wave packets for the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, in the semi-classical limit. We establish the existence of a critical size for the initial data, in terms of the Planck constant: if the initial data are too small, the nonlinearity is negligible up to the Ehrenfest time. If the initial data have the critical size, then at leading order the wave function propagates like a coherent state whose envelope is given by a nonlinear equation, up to a time of the same order as the Ehrenfest time. We also prove a nonlinear superposition principle for these nonlinear wave packets.Comment: 27 page

A dose-dependent plasma signature of the safety and immunogenicity of the rVSV-Ebola vaccine in Europe and Africa.

The 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic affected several African countries, claiming more than 11,000 lives and leaving thousands with ongoing sequelae. Safe and effective vaccines could prevent or limit future outbreaks. The recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-vectored Zaire Ebola (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine has shown marked immunogenicity and efficacy in humans but is reactogenic at higher doses. To understand its effects, we examined plasma samples from 115 healthy volunteers from Geneva who received low-dose (LD) or high-dose (HD) vaccine or placebo. Fifteen plasma chemokines/cytokines were assessed at baseline and on days 1, 2 to 3, and 7 after injection. Significant increases in monocyte-mediated MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1β/CCL4, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1Ra, and IL-10 occurred on day 1. A signature explaining 68% of cytokine/chemokine vaccine-response variability was identified. Its score was higher in HD versus LD vaccinees and was associated positively with vaccine viremia and negatively with cytopenia. It was higher in vaccinees with injection-site pain, fever, myalgia, chills, and headache; higher scores reflected increasing severity. In contrast, HD vaccinees who subsequently developed arthritis had lower day 1 scores than other HD vaccinees. Vaccine dose did not influence the signature despite its influence on specific outcomes. The Geneva-derived signature associated strongly (ρ = 0.97) with that of a cohort of 75 vaccinees from a parallel trial in Lambaréné, Gabon. Its score in Geneva HD vaccinees with subsequent arthritis was significantly lower than that in Lambaréné HD vaccinees, none of whom experienced arthritis. This signature, which reveals monocytes' critical role in rVSV-ZEBOV immunogenicity and safety across doses and continents, should prove useful in assessments of other vaccines