Nursing and the barriers to sustainable healthcare: an international review of the literature

Objectives: global warming poses a serious threat to human health yet healthcare organisations and staff have been relatively slow to engage with sustainable healthcare practises. This review of the literature seeks to frame what is already known about nurses and their views on global warming and sustainable healthcare. Design: eleven primary research papers were sources from a search of five mainstream databases. These papers were subject to a basic thematic analysis. Results: six themes were identified: Sustainability; Endemic Blindness to Global Issues; Environmental Numbness; Social Norms; Priority Assigned to Sustainability, and; Psychology of Responsibility and Blame. Conclusion: from the literature reviewed it is clear there are a number of social, cultural and psychological barriers which have led to widespread inaction. This article recommends further research to understand the psychological barriers in more depth as this is a poorly understood area

The impact of healthcare on global warming and human health: connecting the dots

The aim of this paper is to explore climate change and the impact that this is having on human health. The paper takes the reader through a brief history of climate change, making links between raising global temperatures and the environmental effects that are being seen across the globe. The environmental effects are then explored in relation to human health and the impact that climate change is having on physical and mental health. The paper concludes by illuminating the carbon footprint of health and care in the UK and the role of the healthcare assistant and assistant practitioner in making a positive contribution to sustainable healthcare

‘My journey through the system’: a grounded theory of service user-perceived experiences of recovery in forensic mental health services

The ‘Recovery Approach’ is widely regarded as the guiding principle for mentalhealth service delivery in the UK. Forensic services face unique challenges in applying this approach. Numerous studies have explored themes associated with recovery in these settings but it is unclear how themes relate to each other. This study set out to build a theoretical model of service user experiences of recovery in forensic mental health settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 service users about their recovery. Grounded Theory methodology, with a constructivist epistemology, was used to analyse the data. A cyclical model was developed, with five-core recovery processes that interrelated; these were the environment, connectedness, hope for the future, who I am and empowerment. These occurred in three phases of 1) feeling safe and secure, 2) moving forward, and 3) empowerment. These processes were encompassed by two additional themes of arriving at the hospital and changes over time. This study is the first to provide a clear model of service user experiences of recovery in this setting

Multiwavelength Observations of GX 339-4 in 1996. III. Keck Spectroscopy

As part of our multiwavelength campaign of observations of GX 339-4 in 1996 we present our Keck spectroscopy performed on May 12 UT. At this time, neither the ASM on the RXTE nor BATSE on the CGRO detected the source. The optical emission was still dominated by the accretion disk with V approximately 17 mag. The dominant emission line is H alpha, and for the first time we are able to resolve a double peaked profile. The peak separation Delta v = 370 +/- 40 km/s. Double peaked H alpha emission lines have been seen in the quiescent optical counterparts of many black hole X-ray novae. However, we find that the peak separation is significantly smaller in GX 339-4, implying that the optical emission comes from a larger radius than in the novae. The H alpha emission line may be more akin to the one in Cygnus X-1, where it is very difficult to determine if the line is intrinsically double peaked because absorption and emission lines from the companion star dominate.Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journal. 10 pages. 2 figure

A Sequence of Declining Outbursts from GX339-4

The flux and spectrum of the black hole candidate GX339-4 has been monitored by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO) since the observatory became operational in May 1991. Between the summer of 1991 and the fall of 1996, eight outbursts from GX339-4 were observed. The history of these outbursts is one of declining fluence or total energy release, as well as a shortening of the time between outbursts. A rough linear correlation exists between the fluence emitted during an outburst and the time elapsed between the end of the previous outburst and the beginning of the current one. The peak flux is also roughly linearly correlated with outburst fluence. The lightcurves of the earlier, more intense, outbursts (except for the second one) can be modeled by a fast exponential (time constant ~ 10 days) followed by a slower exponential (~ 100 days) on the rise and a fast exponential decay (~ 5 days) on the fall. The later, weaker, outbursts are modeled with a single rising time constant (~ 20 days) and a longer decay on the fall (~ 50 days). An exponential model gives a marginally better fit than a power law to the rise/decay profiles. GX339-4 is a unique source in having more frequent outbursts than other low mass x-ray binary black hole candidates. These observations can be used to constrain models of the behavior of the accretion disk surrounding the compact object.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, AASTE

X-ray Spectroscopy of Candidate Ultracompact X-ray Binaries

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the neutron star/low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) 4U 1850-087 and 4U 0513-40 as part of our continuing study of known and candidate ultracompact binaries. The LMXB 4U 1850-087 is one of four systems in which we had previously inferred an unusual Ne/O ratio in the absorption along the line of sight, most likely from material local to the binaries. However, our recent Chandra X-ray Observatory LETGS spectrum of 4U 1850-087 finds a Ne/O ratio by number of 0.22+/-0.05, smaller than previously measured and consistent with the expected interstellar value. We propose that variations in the Ne/O ratio due to source variability, as previously observed in these sources, can explain the difference between the low- and high-resolution spectral results for 4U 1850-087. Our XMM-Newton RGS observation of 4U 0513-40 also shows no unusual abundance ratios in the absorption along the line of sight. We also present spectral results from a third candidate ultracompact binary, 4U 1822-000, whose spectrum is well fit by an absorbed power-law + blackbody model with absorption consistent with the expected interstellar value. Finally, we present the non-detection of a fourth candidate ultracompact binary, 4U 1905+000, with an upper limit on the source luminosity of < 1 x 10^{32} erg s^{-1}. Using archival data, we show that the source has entered an extended quiescent state.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication to the Astrophysical Journa

A Dynamical Study of the Black Hole X-ray Binary Nova Muscae 1991

We present a dynamical study of the Galactic black hole binary system Nova Muscae 1991 (GS/GRS 1124-683). We utilize 72 high resolution Magellan Echellette (MagE) spectra and 72 strictly simultaneous V-band photometric observations; the simultaneity is a unique and crucial feature of this dynamical study. The data were taken on two consecutive nights and cover the full 10.4-hour orbital cycle. The radial velocities of the secondary star are determined by cross-correlating the object spectra with the best-match template spectrum obtained using the same instrument configuration. Based on our independent analysis of five orders of the echellette spectrum, the semi-amplitude of the radial velocity of the secondary is measured to be K_2 = 406.8+/-2.7 km/s, which is consistent with previous work, while the uncertainty is reduced by a factor of 3. The corresponding mass function is f(M) = 3.02+/-0.06 M_\odot. We have also obtained an accurate measurement of the rotational broadening of the stellar absorption lines (v sin i = 85.0+/-2.6 km/s) and hence the mass ratio of the system q = 0.079+/-0.007. Finally, we have measured the spectrum of the non-stellar component of emission that veils the spectrum of the secondary. In a future paper, we will use our veiling-corrected spectrum of the secondary and accurate values of K_2 and q to model multi-color light curves and determine the systemic inclination and the mass of the black hole.Comment: ApJ accepted version; minor revision; added a subsection about systematic uncertaintie

The thermodynamics of ammonium scheelites. III. An analysis of the heat capacity and related data of deuterated ammonium perrhenate ND4ReO4

An analysis of the heat capacity of deuterated and undeuterated NH4ReO4 has been carried out in which the effects of the anisotropy of the thermal expansion have been considered, an approach hitherto not used for ammonium compounds. In the ammonium scheelites, the axial thermal expansion coefficients are very large, but of opposite sign, and as a result the volume of the scheelite lattice is nearly independent of temperature. It is shown that the correction from constant stress to constant strain results in a major contribution to the heat capacity of this highly anisotropic lattice. The difference between the experimental and calculated values of heat capacity, referred to as ΔCp, is expressed as the sum of the contributions from the anisotropy and the rotational heat capacity. The results of the analysis show that the rotational contribution is much smaller then previously thought. However, the exact contribution of the anisotropy cannot be calculated at this time because the elastic constants are not known. In calculating the heat capacity, maximum use has been made of external optical mode frequencies derived from spectroscopic measurements.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71156/2/JCPSA6-85-10-5963-1.pd

Optical identification of the companion to PSR J1911-5958A, the pulsar binary in the outskirts of NGC 6752

We report on the identification of the optical counterpart of the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1911-5958A, located in the outskirts of the globular cluster NGC 6752. At the position of the pulsar we find an object with V=22.08, B-V=0.38, U-B=-0.49. The object is blue with respect to the cluster main sequence by 0.8 magnitudes in B-V. We argue that the object is the white dwarf companion of the pulsar. Comparison with white dwarf cooling models shows that this magnitude and colors are consistent with a low-mass white dwarf at the distance of NGC 6752. If associated with NGC 6752, the white dwarf is relatively young, <2 Gyr, which sets constraints on the formation of the binary and its ejection from the core of the globular cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters (September 1st, 2003