Reducing hospital associated infection : a role for social marketing

Purpose: Although hand hygiene is seen as the most important method to prevent the transmission of hospital associated infection in the UK, hand hygiene compliance rates appear to remain poor. This research aims to assess the degree to which social marketing methodology can be adopted by a particular organization to promote hand hygiene compliance. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research design is based on a conceptual framework developed from analysis of social marketing literature. Data collection involved taped interviews given by nursing staff working within a specific Hospital Directorate in Manchester, England. Supplementary data was obtained from archival records of the hand hygiene compliance rates. Findings: Findings highlighted gaps in the Directorate’s approach to the promotion of hand hygiene compared to what could be using social marketing methodology. Respondents highlighted how the Directorate failed to fully optimise resources required to endorse hand hygiene practice and this resulted in poorer compliance. Originality/Value: From the experiences and events documented, the study suggests how the emergent phenomena could be utilized by the Directorate to apply a social marketing approach which could positively influence hand hygiene compliance

Preliminary findings from geological mapping of the Hokusai (H5) quadrangle of Mercury

Quadrangle geological maps from Mariner 10 data cover 45% of the surface of Mercury at 1:5M scale. Orbital MESSENGER data, which cover the entire planetary surface, can now be used to produce finer scale geological maps, including regions unseen by Mariner 10. Hokusai quadrangle (0–90° E; 22.5–66° N) is in the hemisphere unmapped by Mariner 10. It contains prominent features which are already being studied, including: Rachmaninoff basin, volcanic vents within and around Rachmaninoff, much of the Northern Plains and abundant wrinkle ridges. Its northern latitude makes it a prime candidate for regional geological mapping since compositional and topographical data, as well as Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) data, are available for geological interpretation. This work aims to produce a map at 1:2M scale, compatible with other new quadrangle maps and to complement a global map now in progress

Preliminary observations of Rustaveli basin, Mercury

Rustaveli basin on Mercury (82.76° E, 52.39° N) is a 200.5 km diameter peak-ring basin. Since the approval of its name on April 24, 2012, it has not featured prominently in the literature. It is a large and important feature within the Hokusai (H5) quadrangle of which we are currently producing a 1:2M scale geological map. Here, we describe our first observations of Rustaveli

Candidate constructional volcanic edifices on Mercury

[Introduction] Studies using MESSENGER data suggest that Mercury’s crust is predominantly a product of effusive volcanism that occurred in the first billion years following the planet’s formation. Despite this planet-wide effusive volcanism, no constructional volcanic edifices, characterized by a topographic rise, have hitherto been robustly identified on Mercury, whereas constructional volcanoes are common on other planetary bodies in the solar system with volcanic histories. Here, we describe two candidate constructional volcanic edifices we have found on Mercury and discuss how these edifices may have formed

Spatial distribution and morphometric measurements of circum-Caloris knobs on Mercury: Application of novel shadow measurements

The Caloris basin (1550 km diameter) is the largest, well-preserved impact feature on Mercury. Its impact ejecta, excavated from the lower crust and uppermost mantle, provides an opportunity to investigate the interior materials of the planet. Based on Mariner 10 data, which cover only the eastern third of the basin, ‘hummocky plains’, associated with Caloris, consisting of ‘low, closely spaced to scattered hills 0.3-1 km across’ were interpreted as Caloris impact ejecta. These plains were subsequently named the Odin Formation, and the knobs associated with them were interpreted as degraded ejecta blocks. To test for an impact ejecta origin for the circum-Caloris knobs, we have mapped their locations and made morphometric measurements and high-resolution observations

Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions in the Transverse Field Ising Model

A phase transition indicates a sudden change in the properties of a large system. For temperature-driven phase transitions this is related to non-analytic behavior of the free energy density at the critical temperature: The knowledge of the free energy density in one phase is insufficient to predict the properties of the other phase. In this paper we show that a close analogue of this behavior can occur in the real time evolution of quantum systems, namely non-analytic behavior at a critical time. We denote such behavior a dynamical phase transition and explore its properties in the transverse field Ising model. Specifically, we show that the equilibrium quantum phase transition and the dynamical phase transition in this model are intimately related.Comment: 4+4 pages, 4 figures, Appendix adde

Geological Mapping of the Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) Preliminary Results

Geological mapping of Mercury is crucial to build an understanding of the history of the planet and to set the context for BepiColombo’s observations [1]. Geo-logical mapping of the Debussy quadrangle (H-14) is now underway as part of a program to map the entire planet at a scale of 1:3M using MESSENGER data [2]. The quadrangle is located in the southern hemisphere of Mercury at 0o – 90o E and 22.5o – 65o S. This will be the first high resolution map of the quadrangle as it was not imaged by Mariner 10

Late movement of basin-edge lobate scarps on Mercury

Basin-edge lobate scarps are a sub-type of tectonic shortening structure on the surface of Mercury that have formed at the edge of volcanic units that fill or partly fill impact basins. We have performed a global survey of these features and find that they are widespread in basins across the planet. We obtained model ages from crater size–frequency distribution analysis for a subset of our surveyed basins, for both the smooth plains infill and for the last resolvable tectonic activity on the associated basin-edge scarps. Our results indicate that some of these lobate scarps were still accumulating strain in the late Mansurian (approximately 1 Ga). From a photogeological assessment, we find that the orientations of these basin-edge lobate scarps are similar to those reported for the global population of lobate scarps in earlier studies, appearing to align ∼north–south at low latitudes and ∼east–west at higher latitudes. However, reassessing these landforms’ orientation with artificially illuminated topographic data does not allow us to rule out the effect of illumination bias. We propose that these landforms, the result of crustal shortening in response to global contraction, formed along the interface between the basin floor and the smooth plains unit, which acted as a mechanical discontinuity along which shortening strains were concentrated

Small smooth units (‘young’ lavas?) abutting lobate scarps on Mercury

We have identified small units abutting, and so stratigraphy younger than, lobate scarps. This post dates the end of large scale smooth plains formation at the onset of global contraction. This elaborates the history of volcanism on Mercury