Chronic hand eczema in Europe:Patient experiences and perspectives (CHEPEP) in qualitative interviews

Background: Chronic hand eczema (CHE) is a very common skin disease among the European population. It causes itch and pain and, in more severe cases, seriously impairs hand functioning at work and in private life. Objectives: To explore perspectives of people with lived experience on CHE-related problems, wishes and goals. Methods: Following a qualitative approach, we conducted topic-guided interviews in five European countries and applied template analysis to identify recurrent themes among patients with CHE. Results: We interviewed 60 patients in seven outpatient dermatological and occupational medicine clinics in Croatia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Five main themes were identified: (1) knowledge about the disease and its course, (2) preventive behaviour, (3) hand eczema therapy, (4) impact on everyday life and (5) attitudes towards CHE and healthcare. Participants did not feel well informed about CHE, especially about causes, triggers and treatment options. Preventive measures were experienced as more or less effective but also cumbersome. Experiences with therapy were diverse. Treatment satisfaction depended on the results and on the perceived support from the treatment teams. Participants found it important to be taken seriously, to receive practical advice, to try out additional treatments or examinations, find new hope and have occupational perspectives. They wished that others could better understand the physical and emotional burden of CHE. Patient support groups were not mentioned. Participants found it important to learn to take care of themselves and accept life with CHE. Conclusions: Due to its annoying symptoms, high visibility and impaired functioning at work and in private life, CHE has a high emotional and social impact. Some people may require support to learn coping with CHE and its prevention. Patients wish for information about causes and triggers. They value physicians who listen to them and keep looking for solutions.</p

Design of multipurpose dispersive section at Pitz

http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/f06/PAPERS/THPPH020.PDFInternational audienceA detailed knowledge of the parameters of a highbrightness electron beam is of major importance for evaluating the performance of a free electron laser using the beam. Therefore, a full characterization of the beam parameters is required during the commissioning of RF photo injectors. As one important contribution to fulfill this task, a multi-purpose high energy dispersive arm (HEDA1) for electron energies up to 40 MeV is presently under construction at the Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ). The dispersive section is designed such that it will combine the functionality of 1) an electron spectrometer, 2) a device for characterization of the longitudinal phase space, and 3) a transverse slice emittance measuring system. The HEDA1 consists of a 180° dipole magnet (C-Bend), followed by removable slit, a quadrupole magnet, and a screen station with a read-out for the streak camera. Design considerations and the detailed lay out of the high-energy dispersive section are presented

Physics and Technical Design for the Second High Energy Dispersive Section at PITZ.

International audienceResearch activities at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site, (PITZ) aim to develop and optimize high brightness electron sources for Free Electron Lasers (FELs) like FLASH and the European XFEL. To demon- strate the XFEL operation, an electron bunch train contain- ing 3250 pulses of 1 nC charge at 10 Hz repetition rate is required. The spectrometers and related equipments for studying the longitudinal phase space for such long pulse trains do not yet exist at PITZ. Design and construction of a new high energy dispersive arm (HEDA2) is currently in progress. Besides the requirement to handle long electron bunch trains, the HEDA2 setup is designed to allow high resolution measurements of momentum distribution up to 40 MeV/c, a longitudinal phase space measurement with slice momentum spread down to 1 keV/c and transverse slice emittance measurements at off-crest booster phases. The status of the physics design and technical considera- tions of this dispersive section will be presented