Radiation protection guidelines for space missions

NASA's current radiation protection guidelines date from 1970, when the career limit was set at 400 rem. Today, using the same approach, but with the current risk estimates, a considerably lower career limit would obtain. Also, there is considerably more information about the radiation environments to be experienced in different missions than previously. Since 1970 women have joined the ranks. For these and other reasons it was necessary to reexamine the radiation protection guidelines. This task was undertaken by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Scientific Committee 75 (NCRP SC 75). Below the magnetosphere the radiation environment varies with altitude and orbit inclination. In outer space missions galactic cosmic rays, with the small but important heavy ion component, determine the radiation environment. The new recommendations for career dose limits, based on lifetime excess risk of cancer mortality, take into account age at first exposure and sex. The career limits range from 100 rem (4.0Sv) for a 24 year old female to 400 rem for a 55 year old male compared to the previous single limit of 400 rem (4.0 Sv). The career limit for the lens of the eye was reduced from 600 to 400 rem (6.0 to 4.0 Sv.

Multiple zero modes of the Dirac operator in three dimensions

One of the key properties of Dirac operators is the possibility of a degeneracy of zero modes. For the Abelian Dirac operator in three dimensions the construction of multiple zero modes has been sucessfully carried out only very recently. Here we generalise these results by discussing a much wider class of Dirac operators together with their zero modes. Further we show that those Dirac operators that do admit zero modes may be related to Hopf maps, where the Hopf index is related to the number of zero modes in a simple way.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages, no figure

Foot-operated cell-counter

Cell-counter for cell indices consists of a footboard with four pressure sensitive switches and an enclosure for the components and circuitry. This device increases the operators efficiency by reducing the number of required hand movements

Psychological capital, wellbeing and patient safety attitudes of nurses and midwives: a cross-sectional survey.

Nursing and midwifery are unarguably stressful endeavours requiring high levels of psychological capital and coping strategies. The impact of the work environment on patient safety outcomes suggests that high nurse/midwife stress may be associated with more adverse patient events. The purpose of the study was to explore the psychological capital of clinical nurses and midwives and identify explanatory factors (including psychological capital, well-being and health related behaviours) contributing to attitudes to patient safety. A descriptive web and paper-based survey comprising a convenience sample of nurses and midwives in acute health facilities in Sydney, Australia was performed (October 2018 and April 2019). Variables included: psychological capital; psychological wellbeing; work culture and attitudes to patient safety. Descriptive statistics were performed and a regression model was specified (a statistical significance of p < 0.05 was set a priori). Psychological capital, depression score and work engagement had a significant effect on patient safety perceptions when controlling for other factors. The findings suggest that nurse and midwife wellbeing is an important consideration when striving to improve patient safety. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Pragmatic evaluation of an observational pain assessment scale in the emergency department: The Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale

© 2018 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia Background: Pain assessment is challenging in older people with cognitive impairment who present to the emergency department and may result in suboptimal management. Therefore, the usefulness of the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) tool for older people with cognitive impairment presenting with a painful injury was evaluated. Methods: In this multi-centre observational sub-study, older people (≥65 years) suspected of a long bone fracture were screened for cognitive impairment using the Six Item Screening (SIS) tool. Patients with SIS ≤ 4 were assessed using the PAINAD. Descriptive and correlation statistical analyses were performed. Cronbach's alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the PAINAD. Results: This predominantly female (63%) sample had a mean age of 85.5 ± 7.5 years and a moderately urgent Australian Triage code (mode: 3). Median pain intensity was low (numerical reporting scale: 5.5 [3.0–8.0]). Median PAINAD score was ‘mild’ (1.0 [0.0–3.2]) with wide variability (range: 0–9). The PAINAD demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.80). Most PAINAD items appeared worthy of retention. Conclusions: The PAINAD has potential as an effective pain assessment tool for older people with cognitive impairment in emergency departments. Strategies such as partnering with carers and family to collaboratively assess pain require further investigation in this setting

QED in strong, finite-flux magnetic fields

Lower bounds are placed on the fermionic determinants of Euclidean quantum electrodynamics in two and four dimensions in the presence of a smooth, finite-flux, static, unidirectional magnetic field $B(r) =(0,0,B(r))$, where $B(r) \geq 0$ or $B(r) \leq 0$, and $r$ is a point in the xy-plane.Comment: 10 pages, postscript (in uuencoded compressed tar file

Single-Room Ward Design and Its Impact on Service and Patient Outcomes: An Evaluation Study

© 2019 by National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses. BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that single-room inpatient wards are associated with better patient outcomes than open-room wards but little is known about the impact on adverse events, patient satisfaction, and clinician experiences. METHODS/PURPOSE: We evaluated the impact of a new inpatient single-room orthopaedic ward on patient and clinician outcomes using a medical record audit; patient, nurse, and medical doctor surveys; and nonparticipant observations in a tertiary hospital in Sydney, Australia. RESULTS: The audit (1,569 patients; 819 open-room ward and 750 new single-room ward) revealed unchanged adverse event rates and fewer emergency calls after the move to a single-room ward. Survey responses from nurses, medical doctors, and patients were positive. Observations suggested that clinicians devised solutions to potential threats to patient safety. CONCLUSION: The single-room ward design did not negatively impact on patient and clinician outcomes and was preferred by them. Clinicians organized their work to ensure patient safety

Cadherin-5: a biomarker for metastatic breast cancer with optimum efficacy in oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancers with vascular invasion

Background: A glycoproteomic study has previously shown cadherin-5 (CDH5) to be a serological marker of metastatic breast cancer when both protein levels and glycosylation status were assessed. In this study we aimed to further validate the utility of CDH5 as a biomarker for breast cancer progression. Methods: A nested case–control study of serum samples from breast cancer patients, of which n=52 had developed a distant metastatic recurrence within 5 years post-diagnosis and n=60 had remained recurrence-free. ELISAs were used to quantify patient serum CDH5 levels and assess glycosylation by Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) binding. Clinicopathological, treatment and lifestyle factors associated with metastasis and elevated biomarker levels were identified. Results: Elevated CDH5 levels (P=0.028) and ratios of CDH5:HPA binding (P=0.007) distinguished patients with metastatic disease from those that remained metastasis-free. Multivariate analysis showed that the association between CDH5:HPA ratio and the formation of distant metastases was driven by patients with oestrogen receptor (ER+) positive cancer with vascular invasion (VI+). Conclusions: CDH5 levels and the CDH5 glycosylation represent biomarker tests that distinguish patients with metastatic breast cancer from those that remain metastasis-free. The test reached optimal sensitivity and specificity in ER-positive cancers with vascular invasion