4,851 research outputs found
A study of the social and physical environment in catering kitchens and the role of the chef in promoting positive health and safety behaviour
This is the account of a mixed method study of chefs and their kitchens in order to identify the nature of their workplace and how this affects their ability to manage health and safety in the kitchen. It included extended periods of observation, monitoring of physical parameters, analysis of records of reported accidents, and a series of reflexive interviews. The findings were integrated and then fed back in a smaller number of second interviews in order to test whether the findings fitted in with the chefs' understanding of their world. Major factors identified included survival in a market environment, the status of the chef (and the kitchen) within organisations, marked autocracy of chefs, and an increasing tempo building up to service time with commensurate heat, noise, and activity. In particular during the crescendo, a threshold shift in risk tolerance was identified. The factors, their interplay, and their implications for health and safety in the catering kitchen are discussed
Collective states of interacting non-Abelian anyons
We study the finite size spectrum of integrable quantum chains of interacting
non-Abelian anyons constructed using the Drinfeld double of the dihedral group
. The gapless low energy modes are identified as the direct product of two
conformal field theories which can be decomposed according to the residual
symmetries of the chains subject to periodic boundary conditions.Comment: 11 page
Charged anisotropic matter with linear equation of state
We consider the general situation of a compact relativistic body with
anisotropic pressures in the presence of the electromagnetic field. The
equation of state for the matter distribution is linear and may be applied to
strange stars with quark matter. Three classes of new exact solutions are found
to the Einstein-Maxwell system. This is achieved by specifying a particular
form for one of the gravitational potentials and the electric field intensity.
We can regain anisotropic and isotropic models from our general class of
solution. A physical analysis indicates that the charged solutions describe
realistic compact spheres with anisotropic matter distribution. The equation of
state is consistent with dark energy stars and charged quark matter
distributions. The masses and central densities correspond to realistic stellar
objects in the general case when anisotropy and charge are present.Comment: 17 pages, To appear in Class. Quantum Gra
Strangelets: Who is Looking, and How?
It has been over 30 years since the first suggestion that the true ground
state of cold hadronic matter might be not nuclear matter but rather strange
quark matter (SQM). Ever since, searches for stable SQM have been proceeding in
various forms and have observed a handful of interesting events but have
neither been able to find compelling evidence for stable strangelets nor to
rule out their existence. I will survey the current status and near future of
such searches with particular emphasis on the idea of SQM from strange star
collisions as part of the cosmic ray flux.Comment: Talk given at International Conference on Strangeness in Quark
Matter, 2006. 8 pages. 1 figur
Induced Topological Phases at the Boundary of 3D Topological Superconductors
We present tight-binding models of 3D topological superconductors in class DIII that support a variety of winding numbers. We show that gapless Majorana surface states emerge at their boundary in agreement with the bulk-boundary correspondence. At the presence of a Zeeman field, the surface states become gapped and the boundary behaves as a 2D superconductor in class D. Importantly, the 2D and 3D winding numbers are in agreement, signifying that the topological phase of the boundary is induced by the phase of the 3D bulk. Hence, the boundary of a 3D topological superconductor in class DIII can be used for the robust realization of localized Majorana zero modes
Uniqueness of reconstruction and an inversion procedure for thermoacoustic and photoacoustic tomography
The paper contains a simple approach to reconstruction in Thermoacoustic and
Photoacoustic Tomography. The technique works for any geometry of point
detectors placement and for variable sound speed satisfying a non-trapping
condition. A uniqueness of reconstruction result is also obtained
Catastrophic senescence and semelparity in the Penna aging model
The catastrophic senescence of the Pacific salmon is among the initial tests
used to validate the Penna aging model. Based on the mutation accumulation
theory, the sudden decrease in fitness following reproduction may be solely
attributed to the semelparity of the species. In this work, we report other
consequences of mutation accumulation. Contrary to earlier findings, such
dramatic manifestation of aging depends not only on the choice of breeding
strategy but also on the value of the reproduction age, R, and the mutation
threshold, T. Senescence is catastrophic when . As the organism's
tolerance for harmful genetic mutations increases, the aging process becomes
more gradual. We observe senescence that is threshold dependent whenever T>R.
That is, the sudden drop in survival rate occurs at age equal to the mutation
threshold value
On the Timing and Nature of the Multiple Phases of Slope Instability on Eastern Rockall Bank, Northeast Atlantic
One of the most challenging tasks when studying large submarine landslides is determining whether the landslide was initiated as a single large event, a chain of events closely spaced in time or multiple events separated by long periods of time as all have implications in risk assessments. In this study we combine new multichannel seismic profiles and new sediment cores with bathymetric data to test whether the Rockall Bank Slide Complex, offshore western Ireland, is the composite of multiple slope collapse events and, if so, to differentiate them. We conclude that there have been at least three voluminous episodes of slope collapse separated by long periods of slope stability, a fourth, less voluminous event, and possibly a fifth more localized event. The oldest event, Slide A (200 km3), is estimated to be several hundred thousand years old. The second event, Slide B (125 km3), took place at the same location as slide A, reactivating the same scar, nearly 200 ka ago, possibly through retrogression of the scarp. Slide C (400 km3) took place 22 ka ago and occurred further north from the other slides. Slide D was a much smaller event that happened 10 ka ago, while the most recent event, albeit very small scale, took place within the last 1,000 years. This study highlights the need to thoroughly investigate large slide complexes to evaluate event sequencing, as seismic studies may hide multiple small‐scale events. This work also reveals that the same slide scarps can be reactivated and generate slides with different flow behaviors
Why is it difficult to implement e-health initiatives? A qualitative study
<b>Background</b> The use of information and communication technologies in healthcare is seen as essential for high quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, implementation of e-health initiatives has often been problematic, with many failing to demonstrate predicted benefits. This study aimed to explore and understand the experiences of implementers - the senior managers and other staff charged with implementing e-health initiatives and their assessment of factors which promote or inhibit the successful implementation, embedding, and integration of e-health initiatives.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b> We used a case study methodology, using semi-structured interviews with implementers for data collection. Case studies were selected to provide a range of healthcare contexts (primary, secondary, community care), e-health initiatives, and degrees of normalization. The initiatives studied were Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) in secondary care, a Community Nurse Information System (CNIS) in community care, and Choose and Book (C&B) across the primary-secondary care interface. Implementers were selected to provide a range of seniority, including chief executive officers, middle managers, and staff with 'on the ground' experience. Interview data were analyzed using a framework derived from Normalization Process Theory (NPT).<p></p>
<b>Results</b> Twenty-three interviews were completed across the three case studies. There were wide differences in experiences of implementation and embedding across these case studies; these differences were well explained by collective action components of NPT. New technology was most likely to 'normalize' where implementers perceived that it had a positive impact on interactions between professionals and patients and between different professional groups, and fit well with the organisational goals and skill sets of existing staff. However, where implementers perceived problems in one or more of these areas, they also perceived a lower level of normalization.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b> Implementers had rich understandings of barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of e-health initiatives, and their views should continue to be sought in future research. NPT can be used to explain observed variations in implementation processes, and may be useful in drawing planners' attention to potential problems with a view to addressing them during implementation planning
- …