Ward round documentation in a major trauma centre: can we improve patient safety?

Our objective was to improve documentation and patient safety in a major trauma centre. A retrospective audit was undertaken in March 2014. Ward round entries for each orthopaedic patients on three dates were assessed against standards and analysed. The audit was repeated in April 2014, and again in August 2014. Thorough documentation is paramount in a major trauma centre. It forms a useful record of the patients hospital stay, is a legal document and is highlighted in national guidelines. It provides a basis for good handover, ensuring continuation of care and maintaining patient safety. Resultant poor compliance with Royal College guidelines in the initial audit led to the production of a new electronic based note keeping system. A meeting was held with all staff prior to introduction. Our initial results gained 75 entries, and none showed full compliance. Mean compliance per entry was 59% (0-81%). The second attempt gained 90 entries, with 30 from the weekend. Mean compliance per entry 97%. Third attempt received 61 entries, with 27 from the weekend. Mean compliance was 96%, meaning that the improvement was being maintained. Recent distressing reports regarding patient highlighted the importance of patient. Our initial audit proved there were many areas lacking in our documentation and improvement was necessary. Prior to introducing electronic systems, the implemented change has produced improvement in documentation, and provides a useful handover tool for staff

Threshold Two-Pion Photo- and Electroproduction: More neutrals than expected

We present an exploratory study of two pion photo-- and electroproduction off the nucleon in the threshold region. To calculate the pertinent amplitudes, we make use of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. We show that due to finite chiral loops the production cross section for final states with two neutral pions is considerably enhanced. The experimental implications are briefly discussed.Comment: 23pp, plain TeX, 11 figures available upon request, CRN 94/1

The pion charge radius from charged pion electroproduction

We analyze a low-energy theorem of threshold pion electroproduction which allows one to determine the charge radius of the pion. We show that at the same order where the radius appears, pion loops induce a correction to the momentum dependence of the longitudinal dipole amplitude $L_{0+}^{(-)}$. This model-independent correction amounts to an increase of the pion charge radius squared from the electroproduction data by about 0.26~fm$^2$. It sheds light on the apparent discrepancy between the recent determination of the pion radius from electroproduction data and the one based on pion-electron scattering.Comment: 3 pp, REVTeX, uses eps

Scalar mesons in a finite volume

Using effective field theory methods, we discuss the extraction of the mass and width of the scalar mesons f0(980) and a0(980) from the finite-volume spectrum in lattice QCD. In particular, it is argued that the nature of these states can be studied by invoking twisted boundary conditions, as well as investigating the quark mass dependence of the spectrum.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

Induced pseudoscalar form factor of the nucleon at two-loop order in chiral perturbation theory

We calculate the imaginary part of the induced pseudoscalar form factor of the nucleon $G_P(t)$ in the framework of two-loop heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. The effect of the calculated three-pion continuum on the pseudoscalar constant $g_P = (m_\mu/2M) G_P(t=-0.877m_\mu^2)$ measurable in ordinary muon capture $\mu^-p\to \nu_\mu n$ turns out to be negligibly small. Possible contributions from counterterms at two-loop order are numerically smaller than the uncertainty of the dominant pion-pole term proportional to the pion-nucleon coupling constant $g_{\pi N}= 13.2\pm 0.2$. We conclude that a sufficiently accurate representation of the induced pseudoscalar form factor of the nucleon at low momentum transfers $t$ is given by the sum of the pion-pole term and the Adler-Dothan-Wolfenstein term: $G_P(t) = 4g_{\pi N} M f_\pi/ (m_\pi^2 -t)- 2g_A M^2 /3$, with $= (0.44 \pm 0.02)$ fm$^2$ the axial mean square radius of the nucleon.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Inverse turbulent cascades and conformally invariant curves

We offer a new example of conformal invariance far from equilibrium -- the inverse cascade of Surface Quasi-Geostrophic (SQG) turbulence. We show that temperature isolines are statistically equivalent to curves that can be mapped into a one-dimensional Brownian walk (called Schramm-Loewner Evolution or SLE$_\kappa$). The diffusivity is close to $\kappa=4$, that is iso-temperature curves belong to the same universality class as domain walls in the O(2) spin model. Several statistics of temperature clusters and isolines are measured and shown to be consistent with the theoretical expectations for such a spin system at criticality. We also show that the direct cascade in two-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence is not conformal invariant. The emerging picture is that conformal invariance may be expected for inverse turbulent cascades of strongly interacting systems.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Aspects of Nucleon Compton Scattering

We consider the spin-averaged nucleon forward Compton scattering amplitude in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory including all terms to order ${\cal O} (q^4)$. The chiral prediction for the spin-averaged forward Compton scattering amplitude is in good agreement with the data for photon energies $\omega \le 110$ MeV. We also evaluate the nucleon electric and magnetic Compton polarizabilities to this order and discuss the uncertainties of the various counter terms entering the chiral expansion of these quantities.Comment: 17 pp, TeX, 7 figures available from the authors, preprint CRN-93/5

Parametric gravity wave detector

Since 1978 superconducting coupled cavities have been proposed as a sensitive detector of gravitational waves. The interaction of the gravitational wave with the cavity walls, and the esulting motion, induces the transition of some energy from an initially excited cavity mode to an empty one. The energy transfer is maximum when the frequency of the wave is equal to the frequency difference of the two cavity modes. In 1984 Reece, Reiner and Melissinos built a detector of the type proposed, and used it as a transducer of harmonic mechanical motion, achieving a sensitivity to fractional deformations of the order dx/x ~ 10^(-18). In this paper the working principles of the detector are discussed and the last experimental results summarized. New ideas for the development of a realistic gravitational waves detector are considered; the outline of a possible detector design and its expected sensitivity are also shown.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Talk given at the Workshop on Electromagnetic Probes of Fundamentals Physics, Erice (Italy), October 200

A detector of gravitational waves based on coupled microwave cavities

Since 1978 superconducting coupled cavities have been proposed as sensitive detector of gravitational waves. The interaction of the gravitational wave with the cavity walls, and the resulting motion, induces the transition of some electromagnetic energy from an initially excited cavity mode to an empty one. The energy transfer is maximum when the frequency of the wave is equal to the frequency difference of the two cavity modes. In this paper the basic principles of the detector are discussed. The interaction of a gravitational wave with the cavity walls is studied in the proper reference frame of the detector, and the coupling between two electromagnetic normal modes induced by the wall motion is analyzed in detail. Noise sources are also considered; in particular the noise coming from the brownian motion of the cavity walls is analyzed. Some ideas for the developement of a realistic detector of gravitational waves are discussed; the outline of a possible detector design and its expected sensitivity are also shown.Comment: 29 pages, 12 eps figures. Typeset by REVTe

Results from a Non-Perturbative Renormalization of Lattice Operators

We propose a general renormalization method, which avoids completely the use of lattice perturbation theory. We present the results from its numerical applications to two-fermion operators on a $16^3 \times 32$ lattice, at $\beta=6.0$.Comment: 3 pages postscript file. Contribution to Lattice '9