422 research outputs found
Finite size effects. The averaged eigenvalue density of Wigner random sign real symmetric matrices
Nowadays, strict finite size effects must be taken into account in condensed
matter problems when treated through models based on lattices or graphs. On the
other hand, the cases of directed bonds or links are known as highly relevant,
in topics ranging from ferroelectrics to quotation networks. Combining these
two points leads to examine finite size random matrices. To obtain basic
materials properties, the Green function associated to the matrix has to be
calculated. In order to obtain the first finite size correction a perturbative
scheme is hereby developed within the framework of the replica method. The
averaged eigenvalue spectrum and the corresponding Green function of Wigner
random sign real symmetric N x N matrices to order 1/N are in fine obtained
analytically. Related simulation results are also presented. The comparison
between the analytical formulae and finite size matrices numerical
diagonalization results exhibits an excellent agreement, confirming the
correctness of the first order finite size expression.Comment: 11 pages; 8 figures; 71 references; prepared for Phys Rev
The developing role of evidence based environmental health: perceptions, experiences and understandings from the front line
There has been renewed recognition that proactive strategies and interventions can address the social determinants of health, and the environmental health profession is well placed to effect positive change in many of these determinants. This qualitative research has revealed differences in the perceptions, experiences, and understandings of evidence-based practice among public health professionals from different backgrounds across different services in health care and local government in England. The absence of a strong tradition of evidence-based practice in environmental health appears to be a disadvantage in securing funding and playing a full role, as it has become the expectation in the new public health system. This has, at times, resulted in tensions between professionals with different backgrounds and frustration on the part of environmental health practitioners, who have a tradition of responding quickly to new challenges and âgetting on with the job.â There is generally a willingness to develop evidence-based practice in environmental health; however, this will take time and investment
Affordable warmth: Housing strategies for older people
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate policy, research, evidence and good practice around strategies tackling fuel poverty and affordable warmth for older people aged over 60 to support the development of more effective services for this life course stage and to tackle physical and mental health inequalities.
Design/methodology/approach
We consolidate current policy, research, evidence and examples of good practice in exploring effective interprofessional approaches that contribute to affordable warmth for older people through âdesktop analysisâ. We support this with qualitative data from Health and Wellbeing Boards, health inequalities and environmental health from research comprising 4 longitudinal case studies in the Midlands and North of England over 18 months and semi structured interviews with members and support officers. A total of 50 interviews were undertaken and 55 hours of Health and Wellbeing Board meetings observed.
Findings
There are numerous older people living in fuel poverty. The depth of fuel poverty increases with age particularly the over 75s and physical and mental ill health are affected. There are an increasing number of tools to help estimate health care costs around the cost effectiveness of interventions and there is a real need for more local evidence about what is working well, how and why. However there is no mandatory requirement for fuel poverty strategies and more creative local strategies are required taking organisational and interprofessional relationships into account. The emphasis in integrated care provides new impetus and scope to encourage preventative services but these new partnerships need to be effective in what is a complex policy environment. There is still a long way to go in places. The challenges of ageing are numerous, complex and not fully understood and sit across multiple policy areas.
Originality/value
Fuel poverty strategies tend to be delivered on a geographical or income bases rather than by life course approach and a focus on older people. We need to focus more specifically on older people, a rapidly growing population and to better understand thermal properties of our ageing housing stock and how best to intervene to protect and improve health and safety. Emerging approaches need to overcome artificial statutory and non statutory divides and move toward sustainable, evidence based affordable warmth strategies for older people to protect and improve health
The developing role of evidence-based environmental health: Perceptions, experiences, and understandings from the front line
There has been renewed recognition that proactive strategies and interventions can address the social determinants of health, and the environmental health profession is well placed to effect positive change in many of these determinants. This qualitative research has revealed differences in the perceptions, experiences, and understandings of evidence-based practice among public health professionals from different backgrounds across different services in health care and local government in England. The absence of a strong tradition of evidence-based practice in environmental health appears to be a disadvantage in securing funding and playing a full role, as it has become the expectation in the new public health system. This has, at times, resulted in tensions between professionals with different backgrounds and frustration on the part of environmental health practitioners, who have a tradition of responding quickly to new challenges and âgetting on with the job.â There is generally a willingness to develop evidence-based practice in environmental health; however, this will take time and investment
Entropic Analysis of Votes Expressed in Italian Elections between 1948 and 2018
In Italy, the elections occur often, indeed almost every year the citizens are involved in a democratic choice for deciding leaders of different administrative entities. Sometimes the citizens are called to vote for filling more than one office in more than one administrative body. This phenomenon has occurred 35 times after 1948; it creates the peculiar condition of having the same sample of people expressing decisions on political bases at the same time. Therefore, the Italian contemporaneous ballots constitute the occasion to measure coherence and chaos in the way of expressing political opinion. In this paper, we address all the Italian elections that occurred between 1948 and 2018. We collect the number of votes per party at each administrative level and we treat each election as a manifestation of a complex system. Then, we use the Shannon entropy and the Gini Index to study the degree of disorder manifested during different types of elections at the municipality level. A particular focus is devoted to the contemporaneous elections. Such cases implicate different disorder dynamics in the contemporaneous ballots, when different administrative level are involved. Furthermore, some features that characterize different entropic regimes have emerged
Research and evidence based environmental health
Environmental health (EH) professionals have often spoken of the need to become more research active (Burke et al., 2002; McCarthy, 1996) and make their work more evidence based, but to date little has been written about how to achieve this in practice. This chapter is therefore written as an introductory guide to research for EH professionals, students, and policy makers. By developing your knowledge it is hoped you will feel more confident navigating the world of research; motivated towards making your own work more evidence based; and enthused about contributing to the evidence base from which others can learn. This chapter is not a research methods textbook, a step by step guide to research or evidence based environmental health, nor does it seek to make definitive statements about these complex areas. However it highlights the most important issues regarding research in environmental health, considers the importance of research to the environmental health profession and provides useful signposts towards further resources.
The chapter is divided into three sections. The first defines evidence based environmental health and why it remains a priority for EH professionals. The second section explores the key stages of environmental health research and provides guidance on the development of your reading skills. The final section suggests ways to become more research active and evidence based, acknowledging the many challenges EH professionals face and concluding with a vision for evidence based environmental health. The chapter ends with an annex including a glossary of environmental health research terms, a list of references and suggested further reading
Spectroscopy of orbital ordering in La0.5Sr1.5MnO4 : A many-body cluster calculation
We have studied the orbital ordering (OO) in La0.5Sr1.5MnO4 and its soft
x-ray resonant diffraction spectroscopic signature at the Mn L2, L3 edges.
We have modelled the system in second quantization as a small planar cluster
consisting of a central Mn atom, with the first neighbouring shells of oxygen
and Mn atoms. For the effective Hamiltonian we consider Slater-Koster
parameters, charge transfer and electron correlation energies obtained from
previous measurements on manganites. We calculate the OO as a function of
oxygen distortion and spin correlation used as adjustable parameters.
Their contribution as a function of temperature is clearly distinguished with
a good spectroscopic agreement.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure
Localized Magnetic States of Fe, Co, and Ni Impurities on Alkali Metal Films
X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism
(XMCD) have been used to study transition metal impurities on K and Na films.
The multiplet structure of the XAS spectra indicates that Fe, Co, and Ni have
localized atomic ground states with predominantly d7, d8, and d9 character,
respectively. XMCD shows that the localized impurity states possess large,
atomiclike, magnetic orbital moments that are progressively quenched as
clusters are formed. Ni impurities on Na films are found to be nonmagnetic,
with a strongly increased d10 character of the impurity state. The results show
that the high magnetic moments of transition metals in alkali hosts originate
from electron localization
Pengaruh Jenis Persalinan Terhadap Risiko Depresi Postpartum
Latar Belakang: Depresi postpartum sering terjadi pada masa adaptasi psikologis ibu masa nifas, walaupun insidensinya sulit untuk diketahui secara pasti namun diyakini 10-15% ibu melahirkan mengalami gangguan ini. Faktor pada saat persalinan meliputi lamanya persalinan, jenis persalinan, serta intervensi medis yang digunakan mempengaruhi depresi postpartum, anak yang memiliki ibu depresi postpartum akan memiliki gangguan prilaku, rendah fungsi berfikir, mempengaruhi kognitif dan pertumbuhan anak.Tujuan: Mengetahui pengaruh jenis persalinan terhadap risiko depresi postpartum pada ibu nifas di RSUD SlemanMetode:Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah survey analitik dengan rancangan kohort retrospektif. Lokasi penelitian di RSUD Sleman Yogyakarta. Populasi pada penelitian ini adalah seluruh ibu nifas yang berkunjung pada poli kebidanan dan kandungan pada bulan Oktober-Desember 2015. Jumlah sampel 110, analisa data dilakukan secara univariat, bivariat dengan uji chi-square dan multivariat dengan uji regresi logistikHasil : Kejadian risiko depresi postpartum pada ibu nifas di RSUD sleman adalah 36,3%, Jenis persalinan berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap risiko depresi postpartum dengan nilai (OR=3,716, 95%CI 1,620-8,522), Pekerjaan berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap risiko depresi postpartum dengan nilai (OR=2,411, 95%CI 1,084-5,366), umur, paritas, pendidikan, status ekonomi, dukungan keluarga dan status pernikahan tidak berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap risiko depresi postpartumKesimpulan :Ibu dengan persalinan bedah sesar mempunyai peluang risiko depresi postpartum 3,716 kali lebih besar dibandingkan ibu yang persalinan pervaginam, sehingga perlu dilakukan deteksi dini untuk melihat risiko depresi postpartum pada ibu nifas agar ibu dapat segera mendapatkan asuhan yang tepat
Measuring the distress related to delirium in older surgical patients and their relatives
Objective:
Delirium is a common postoperative complication with implications on morbidity
and mortality. Less is known about the psychological impact of delirium in patients
and relatives. This study aimed to;
1. Quantitatively describe distress related to postoperative delirium in older surgical
patients and their relatives using the distress thermometer
2. Examine the association between degree of distress and features of delirium on
the Delirium Rating Scale (DRS)
3. Examine the association between recall of delirium and features of delirium on
the Delirium Rating Scale (DRS)
Methods:
This prospective study recruited postoperative patients and their relatives following
delirium. The distress thermometer was used to examine the degree of distress
pertaining to delirium and was conducted during the hospitalisation on resolution of
delirium and then at 12 month follow up. Associations between delirium related
distress in patient and relative participants and severity and features of delirium (
Delirium Rating Scale) were examined.
Results:
102 patients and 49 relatives were recruited. Median scores on the distress
thermometer in patients who recalled delirium were 8/10. Relatives also showed
distress (median distress thermometer score 8/10). Associations were observed
between severity of and phenotypic features of delirium (delusions, labile affect,
agitation). Distress persisted at 12 months in patients and relatives.
Conclusion:
Distress related to postoperative delirium can be measured using a distress
thermometer. Alongside approaches to reduce delirium incidence, interventions to
minimise distress from postoperative delirium should be sought. Such interventions
should be developed through robust research and if effective administered to
patients, relatives or carers
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