22,335 research outputs found
EXAMINING QUALITY INDICATOR RATES FOR OLDER HOME CARE CLIENTS WITH DUAL SENSORY IMPAIRMENT (DSI) AND EXPLORING THE HETEROGENEITY WITHIN DSI.
Older adults with impairments in both hearing and vision, called dual sensory impairment (DSI), are at an increased risk of negative health outcomes such as impaired communication and difficulties with mobility. It is unknown whether DSI is associated with potential quality of care issues. This study used a set of home care quality indicators (HCQIs) to examine potential quality issues in older clients (65+) with DSI. Further, it looked to explore how HCQI rates differed based on the geographic region of care and whether the client’s level of hearing and vision impairment was related to certain HCQIs. The HCQIs were generated from data collected using the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care and capture undesirable outcomes (e.g., falls, cognitive decline). Higher rates indicate a greater frequency of experiencing the issue. In this sample (n=352,656), the average age was 82.8 years (sd=7.9), the majority were female (63.2%), and 20.5% experienced DSI. Compared to those without DSI, clients with DSI had higher rates across 20 of the 22 HCQIs. The HCQI rates differed by geographic region, with specific regions consistently performing worse than others. Finally, the level of hearing and vision impairment was related to certain HCQIs more than others, for example hearing impairment appeared to be more related to the quality indicator measuring communication difficulty. Overall, the hope is that this information can help to identify some of the potential issues around quality and in turn, assist in continually improving the services being provided to these clients
A Predictive Model for Convective Flows Induced by Surface Reactivity Contrast
Concentration gradients in a fluid along a reactive surface due to contrast
in surface reactivity generate convective flows. These flows result from
contributions by electro and diffusio osmotic phenomena. In this study we have
analyzed reactive patterns that release and consume protons, analogous to
bimetallic catalytic conversion of peroxide. Here, we present a simple
analytical model that accurately predicts the induced potentials and consequent
velocities in such systems over a wide range of input parameters. Our model is
tested against direct numerical solutions to the coupled Poisson,
Nernst-Planck, and Navier-Stokes equations. Our analysis can be used to predict
enhancement of mass transport and the resulting impact on overall catalytic
conversion, and is also applicable to predicting the speed of catalytic
nanomotors
A predictive formulation of the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model
A novel strategy to handle divergences typical of perturbative calculations
is implemented for the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model and its phenomenological
consequences investigated. The central idea of the method is to avoid the
critical step involved in the regularization process, namely the explicit
evaluation of divergent integrals. This goal is achieved by assuming a
regularization distribution in an implicit way and making use, in intermediary
steps, only of very general properties of such regularization. The finite parts
are separated of the divergent ones and integrated free from effects of the
regularization. The divergent parts are organized in terms of standard objects
which are independent of the (arbitrary) momenta running in internal lines of
loop graphs. Through the analysis of symmetry relations, a set of properties
for the divergent objects are identified, which we denominate consistency
relations, reducing the number of divergent objects to only a few ones. The
calculational strategy eliminates unphysical dependencies of the arbitrary
choices for the routing of internal momenta, leading to ambiguity-free, and
symmetry-preserving physical amplitudes. We show that the imposition of scale
properties for the basic divergent objects leads to a critical condition for
the constituent quark mass such that the remaining arbitrariness is removed.
The model become predictive in the sense that its phenomenological consequences
do not depend on possible choices made in intermediary steps. Numerical results
are obtained for physical quantities at the one-loop level for the pion and
sigma masses and pion-quark and sigma-quark coupling constants.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure, To appear in Phy.Rev.
Unitary ambiguity in the extraction of the E2/M1 ratio for the transition
The resonant electric quadrupole amplitude in the transition is of great interest for the understanding of
baryon structure. Various dynamical models have been developed to extract it
from the corresponding photoproduction multipole of pions on nucleons. It is
shown that once such a model is specified, a whole class of unitarily
equivalent models can be constructed, all of them providing exactly the same
fit to the experimental data. However, they may predict quite different
resonant amplitudes. Therefore, the extraction of the E2/M1() ratio (bare or dressed) which is based on a dynamical
model using a largely phenomenological interaction is not unique.Comment: 10 pages revtex including 4 postscript figure
Problems with Extraction of the Nucleon to Delta(1232) Photonic Amplitudes
We investigate the model dependence and the importance of choice of database
in extracting the {\it physical} nucleon-Delta(1232) electromagnetic transition
amplitudes, of interest to QCD and baryon structure, from the pion
photoproduction observables. The model dependence is found to be much smaller
than the range of values obtained when different datasets are fitted. In
addition, some inconsistencies in the current database are discovered, and
their affect on the extracted transition amplitudes is discussed.Comment: Revtex, 2 figs., submitted to PR
A framework for efficient wastewater treatment and recycling systems
Water reuse / Wastewater / Recycling / Pricing / Water allocation / Cost benefit analysis / Wastewater irrigation / Developing countries / Developed countries / Case studies
Richness and Abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae (Coleoptera), in Northeastern Dairy Pastures Under Intensive Grazing
Dairy cattle has become popular to dairy farmers in the Northeast looking for management schemes to cut production costs. Carabidae (ground beetles) and Staphylinidae (rove beetles) are indicators of habitat disturbances, such as drainage of wetlands, or grassland for grazing animals, and their monitoring could provide one measure of ecosystem sustainability if intensive management systems expand or intensify in the future. Our objective was assess the abundance and species richness of these two beetle families under intensive grazing throughout Pennsylvania, southern New York and Vermont. We collected 4365 ground beetles (83 species) and 4,027 rove beetles (79 species) by pitfall traps in three years in Pennsylvania. Nine ground beetle species, Amara aenea, Poecilus chalcites, Pterostichus melanarius, Bembidion quadrimaculatum oppositum, Amara familiaris, Poecilus lucublandus, Agonum muelleri, Bembidion obtusum and Bembidion mimus represented 80% of the Carabidae collected.
Five other species were new to Pennsylvania. Four rove beetle species, Philonthus cognatus, Meronera venustula, Amischa analis, and Philonthus various = (carbonarius), comprised 74% of the total Staphylinidae collected. Yearly distributions of the dominant species did not change significantly in the three years with A. aenea and P. cognatus being most abundant every year. A parasitic rove beetle, Aleochara tristis, was recovered for the first time in Pennsylvania and Vermont since its release in the 1960\u27s to control face fly, Musca autumnalis.
Similar results were found in New York and Vermont. We collected 1,984 ground beetles (68 species). Pterostichus melanarius was most abundant. Pterostichus vernalis was detected for the first time in the United States (Vermont). It was previously reported from Montreal, Canada. We collected 843 rove beetles (45 species). Philonthus cognatus was the most abundant rove beetle. In addition, Tachinus corticinus, previously known only from Canada, was discovered for the first time in the United States in Vermont.
Pastures in Pennsylvania were diverse, containing 14 species of forage plants and 17 weed species. Botanical composition was similar in New York and Vermont. Sixteen species of grasses and legumes made up 90% of the plant composition and 36 species of weeds made up the remainder. This diÂverse plant ecosystem may explain the richness of ground and rove beetles in northeastern U.S. pastures because the heterogeneity in the plant population provided additional resources which can support a rich assemblage of beetles. Monitoring richness and abundance of Carabidae and Staphylinidae over three years in Pennsylvania suggests intensive grazing systems are ecoÂlogically sustainable
A method to find quantum noiseless subsystems
We develop a structure theory for decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless
subsystems that applies to arbitrary (not necessarily unital) quantum
operations. The theory can be alternatively phrased in terms of the
superoperator perspective, or the algebraic noise commutant formalism. As an
application, we propose a method for finding all such subspaces and subsystems
for arbitrary quantum operations. We suggest that this work brings the
fundamental passive technique for error correction in quantum computing an
important step closer to practical realization.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in Physical Review Letter
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