2,080 research outputs found
Barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe
The Eurobarometer Survey of the <i>EAPC Task Force on the Development of Palliative Care in Europe</i> is part of a programme of work to produce comprehensive information on the provision of palliative care across Europe.
Aim: To identify barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe.
Method: A qualitative survey was undertaken amongst boards of national associations, eliciting opinions on opportunities for, and barriers to, palliative care development. By July 2006, 44/52 (85%) European countries had responded to the survey; we report here on the results from 22/25 (88%) countries in Western Europe.
Analysis: Data from the Eurobarometer survey were analysed thematically by geographical region and by the degree of development of palliative care in each country.
Results: From the data contained within the Eurobarometer, we identified six significant barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe: (i) Lack of palliative care education and training programmes (ii) Lack of awareness and recognition of palliative care (iii) Limited availability of/knowledge about opioid analgesics (iv) Limited funding (v) Lack of coordination amongst services (vi) Uneven palliative care coverage.
Conclusion: Findings from the EAPC Eurobarometer survey suggest that barriers to the development of palliative care in Western Europe may differ substantially from each other in both their scope and context and that some may be considered to be of greater significance than others. A number of common barriers to the development of the discipline do exist and much work still remains to be done in the identified areas. This paper provides a road map of which barriers need to be addressed
Wave propagation and shock formation in different magnetic structures
Velocity oscillations "measured" simultaneously at the photosphere and the
chromosphere -from time series of spectropolarimetric data in the 10830 A
region- of different solar magnetic features allow us to study the properties
of wave propagation as a function of the magnetic flux of the structure (i.e.
two different-sized sunspots, a tiny pore and a facular region). While
photospheric oscillations have similar characteristics everywhere, oscillations
measured at chromospheric heights show different amplitudes, frequencies and
stages of shock development depending on the observed magnetic feature. The
analysis of the power and the phase spectra, together with simple theoretical
modeling, lead to a series of results concerning wave propagation within the
range of heights of this study. We find that, while the atmospheric cut-off
frequency and the propagation properties of the different oscillating modes
depend on the magnetic feature, in all the cases the power that reaches the
high chromosphere above the atmospheric cut-off comes directly from the
photosphere by means of linear vertical wave propagation rather than from
non-linear interaction of modes.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 29 pages, 9
figures, 12pt, preprin
The Hanle and Zeeman Effects in Solar Spicules: A Novel Diagnostic Window on Chromospheric Magnetism
An attractive diagnostic tool for investigating the magnetism of the solar
chromosphere is the observation and theoretical modeling of the Hanle and
Zeeman effects in spicules, as shown in this letter for the first time. Here we
report on spectropolarimetric observations of solar chromospheric spicules in
the He I 10830 \AA multiplet and on their theoretical modeling accounting for
radiative transfer effects. We find that the magnetic field in the observed
(quiet Sun) spicular material at a height of about 2000 km above the visible
solar surface has a strength of the order of 10 G and is inclined by
approximately with respect to the local vertical direction. Our
empirical finding based on full Stokes-vector spectropolarimetry should be
taken into account in future magnetohydrodynamical simulations of spicules.Comment: 12 pages and 2 figure
Efficient light coupling from integrated single-mode waveguides to supercollimating photonic crystals on silicon-on-insulator platforms
We propose a practical and efficient solution for the coupling of light from
integrated single-mode waveguides to supercollimating planar photonic crystals
on conventional silicon-on-insulator platforms. The device consists of a rib
waveguide, designed to sustain spatially extended single-modes and matched to a
supercollimating photonic crystal, which has been truncated at its boundary to
improve impedance matching between the two photonic components.
Three-dimensional simulations show transmission efficiencies up to 96 % and
reflections below 0.2 % at wavelengths close to 1.55 microns. This approach
constitutes a significant step toward the integration of supercollimating
structures on photonic chips.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Respuestas vegetativa, productiva y calidad del aceite a la aplicación foliar de P y K a olivos “Arbequinos” y “Picual”
A completed hedgerow of cv. Arbequina and a youth vase trained orchard of cv. Picual were fertilized with foliar applications of Phosphorus (P) or Potassium (K) throughout four seasons. The orchards were located near Valdepeñas in the dry area of La Mancha (Spain). Vegetative growth, yield and oil quality were evaluated. Foliar treatments did not increase P or K leaf concentration. Most of the evaluated parameters were not significantly affected by treatments. It was observed that the P treatment increased olive growth and oil yield in both orchards and in certain seasons due to an increment in fruit number. P and K application significantly increased ‘Arbequina’ olive and oil yield in 2008 when spring was wetter than the other years. Oil quality was not modified by fertilizer treatments in the ‘Arbequina’orchard. However, oxidative stability was negatively affected by P and K treatments in ‘Picual’. Oil extraction could be negatively affected by treatments because of the increase in the water content in the fruit obtained from both orchards.Un olivar en seto completamente formado de la variedad Arbequina y otro olivar en vaso joven de la variedad Picual fueron tratados vía foliar con Fósforo (P) y Potasio (K) durante cuatro años. Los olivares estuvieron localizados cerca de Valdepeñas, en la zona árida de La Mancha (España). Se evaluaron el crecimiento vegetativo, el rendimiento y la calidad del aceite. Los tratamientos foliares no aumentaron los niveles foliares de P y K. La mayoría de parámetros de crecimiento y producción evaluados no se vieron afectados por los tratamientos. En ambos olivares y en algún año del ensayo, el tratamiento con P incrementó el crecimiento y el rendimiento, debido al incremento en el número de frutos. Las aplicaciones de P y K aumentaron significativamente el rendimiento en aceituna y aceite en Arbequina en 2008, cuando la primavera fue más húmeda que el resto de años. Los tratamientos no modificaron la calidad del aceite obtenido en ‘Arbequina’. Sin embargo, en ‘Picual’ los tratamientos con P y K afectaron negativamente a la estabilidad oxidativa del aceite. La extracción del aceite podría verse perjudicada por los tratamientos, debido al incremento en el contenido de agua en el fruto obtenido en ambos olivares
Features of alterations of igneous rocks from Sierras of Guadarrama and Malagon (Spanish Central Range)
[Resumen] Se describen las características-de las alteraciones desarrolladas sobre las rocas ígneas de un sector del Sistema Central. Criterios geomorfológicos y su distinta composición mineralógica permiten suponer su origen a partir de distintas etapas de alteración. Se discuten las condiciones climáticas durante su formación, realizada siempre bajo climas poco agresivos.[Abstract] The main features of the alterations developped on igneous rocks of Central System
are described. From geomorphological criteria as well as mineralogical data, different stages of weathering are been inferred. Although weathering processes have not been strong, different conditions are discussed for each stage
Yanagita Kunio and the culture film: discovering everydayness and creating/imagining a national community, 1935–1945
In wartime Japan, folklore studies (minzokugaku) as an academic discipline emerged at the same time as the rise of the culture film (bunka eiga). Both helped mobilize peripheral areas and firmly created the image of a unitary nation. This paper focuses on Living by the Earth (Tsuchi ni ikiru, 1941), directed by Miki Shigeru, and its spinoff photo album titled People of the Snow Country (Yukiguni no minzoku, 1944). Miki filmed rural life and ordinary people in the Tohoku region under the strong influence of Yanagita Kunio, a founder of Japanese folklore studies, and published the photo album in collaboration with Yanagita. In this project, vanishing customs were paradoxically regarded as objects impossible to photograph. However, that paradox enhanced the value of the project and made it easier to construct an imagined national community through the discourse of folklore studies
The influence of coronal EUV irradiance on the emission in the He I 10830 A and D3 multiplets
Two of the most attractive spectral windows for spectropolarimetric
investigations of the physical properties of the plasma structures in the solar
chromosphere and corona are the ones provided by the spectral lines of the He I
10830 A and 5876 A (or D3) multiplets, whose polarization signals are sensitive
to the Hanle and Zeeman effects. However, in order to be able to carry out
reliable diagnostics, it is crucial to have a good physical understanding of
the sensitivity of the observed spectral line radiation to the various
competing driving mechanisms. Here we report a series of off-the-limb non-LTE
calculations of the He I D3 and 10830 A emission profiles, focusing our
investigation on their sensitivity to the EUV coronal irradiation and the model
atmosphere used in the calculations. We show in particular that the intensity
ratio of the blue to the red components in the emission profiles of the He I
10830 A multiplet turns out to be a good candidate as a diagnostic tool for the
coronal irradiance. Measurements of this observable as a function of the
distance to the limb and its confrontation with radiative transfer modeling
might give us valuable information on the physical properties of the solar
atmosphere and on the amount of EUV radiation at relevant wavelengths
penetrating the chromosphere from above.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures (pre-print format). Accepted for publication in
Ap
Channeling 5-min photospheric oscillations into the solar outer atmosphere through small-scale vertical magnetic flux tubes
We report two-dimensional MHD simulations which demonstrate that photospheric
5-min oscillations can leak into the chromosphere inside small-scale vertical
magnetic flux tubes. The results of our numerical experiments are compatible
with those inferred from simultaneous spectropolarimetric observations of the
photosphere and chromosphere obtained with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter
(TIP) at 10830 A. We conclude that the efficiency of energy exchange by
radiation in the solar photosphere can lead to a significant reduction of the
cut-off frequency and may allow for the propagation of the 5 minutes waves
vertically into the chromosphere.Comment: accepted by ApJ
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