552 research outputs found
Formalized Mentorship Program for Newly Licensed Registered Nurses
The nursing profession is currently experiencing a shortage. Despite the need for nurses, there is a high percentage of new nurses who leave their first place of employment before reaching the first year of hire. Mentorship is a tool that has been highly written about, but not widely utilized. Mentorship was found to be helpful in four key areas: retention rates, job satisfaction, lateral violence, and job competency. This projectâs purpose was to inform on the development of a formalized nurse mentorship program. Data collected from two open-ended questionnaires and a survey found that a large community medical center could benefit from a standardized mentorship program. Based on this assessment data, recommendations for implementation and evaluation were created for this facilityâs needs
Implementing a centralised pharmacovigilance service in a non-commercial setting in the United Kingdom
The implementation of a pharmacovigilance service compliant with the legal and regulatory responsibilities of clinical trial sponsors presents particular challenges for sponsors in a non-commercial setting.
In this paper we examine these challenges in detail. We identify and discuss the key steps in the development of a pharmacovigilance service within a public health service and university setting in the United Kingdom. We describe how we have established a central Pharmacovigilance Office with dedicated staff and resources within our organisation. This office is supported by an electronic pharmacovigilance reporting infrastructure developed to facilitate the receipt and processing of safety information, the onward reporting in compliance with legislation and the provision of sponsor institution oversight of clinical trial participant safety. An education and training programme has also been set up to ensure that all relevant staff in the organisation are fully aware of the pharmacovigilance service and are appropriately trained in its use.
We discuss possible alternatives to this approach and why we consider our solution to be the most appropriate to ensure that a non-commercial sponsor organisation and investigators are operating in a fully compliant way
D-branes on a Deformation of SU(2)
We discuss D-branes on a line of conformal field theories connected by an
exact marginal deformation. The line contains an SU(2) WZW model and two
mutually T-dual SU(2)/U(1) cosets times a free boson. We find the D-branes
preserving a U(1) isometry, an F-flux quantization condition and conformal
invariance. Away from the SU(2) point a U(1) times U(1) symmetry is broken to
U(1) times Z_k, i.e. continuous rotations of branes are accompanied by
rotations along the branes. Requiring decoupling of the cosets from the free
boson at the endpoints of the deformation breaks the continuous rotation of
branes to Z_k. At the SU(2) point the full U(1) times U(1) symmetry is
restored. This suggests the occurrence of phase transitions for branes at
angles in the coset model, at a semiclassical level. We also discuss briefly
the orientifold planes along the deformation line.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 5 figures, references adde
Comments on D-branes in Kazama-Suzuki models and Landau-Ginzburg theories
We study D-branes in Kazama-Suzuki models by means of the boundary state
description. We can identify the boundary states of Kazama-Suzuki models with
the solitons in N=2 Landau-Ginzburg theories. We also propose a geometrical
interpretation of the boundary states in Kazama-Suzuki models.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figure
Naturally Rehearsing Passwords
We introduce quantitative usability and security models to guide the design
of password management schemes --- systematic strategies to help users create
and remember multiple passwords. In the same way that security proofs in
cryptography are based on complexity-theoretic assumptions (e.g., hardness of
factoring and discrete logarithm), we quantify usability by introducing
usability assumptions. In particular, password management relies on assumptions
about human memory, e.g., that a user who follows a particular rehearsal
schedule will successfully maintain the corresponding memory. These assumptions
are informed by research in cognitive science and validated through empirical
studies. Given rehearsal requirements and a user's visitation schedule for each
account, we use the total number of extra rehearsals that the user would have
to do to remember all of his passwords as a measure of the usability of the
password scheme. Our usability model leads us to a key observation: password
reuse benefits users not only by reducing the number of passwords that the user
has to memorize, but more importantly by increasing the natural rehearsal rate
for each password. We also present a security model which accounts for the
complexity of password management with multiple accounts and associated
threats, including online, offline, and plaintext password leak attacks.
Observing that current password management schemes are either insecure or
unusable, we present Shared Cues--- a new scheme in which the underlying secret
is strategically shared across accounts to ensure that most rehearsal
requirements are satisfied naturally while simultaneously providing strong
security. The construction uses the Chinese Remainder Theorem to achieve these
competing goals
Spin dynamics and exchange interactions in CuO measured by neutron scattering
The magnetic properties of CuO encompass several contemporary themes in
condensed matter physics, including quantum magnetism, magnetic frustration,
magnetically-induced ferroelectricity and orbital currents. Here we report
polarized and unpolarized neutron inelastic scattering measurements which
provide a comprehensive map of the cooperative spin dynamics in the low
temperature antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase of CuO throughout much of the
Brillouin zone. At high energies (\,meV) the spectrum displays
continuum features consistent with the des Cloizeax--Pearson dispersion for an
ideal Heisenberg AFM chain. At lower energies the spectrum
becomes more three-dimensional, and we find that a linear spin-wave model for a
Heisenberg AFM provides a very good description of the data, allowing for an
accurate determination of the relevant exchange constants in an effective spin
Hamiltonian for CuO. In the high temperature helicoidal phase, there are
features in the measured low-energy spectrum that we could not reproduce with a
spin-only model. We discuss how these might be associated with the
magnetically-induced multiferroic behavior observed in this phase
Direct evidence for charge stripes in a layered cobalt oxide
Recent experiments indicate that static stripe-like charge order is generic to the hole-doped copper oxide superconductors and competes with superconductivity. Here we show that a similar type of charge order is present in La5/3 Sr1/3 CoO4 , an insulating analogue of the copper oxide superconductors containing cobalt in place of copper. The stripe phase we have detected is accompanied by short-range, quasi-one-dimensional, antiferromagnetic order, and provides a natural explanation for the distinctive hour- glass shape of the magnetic spectrum previously observed in neutron scattering mea- surements of La2âxSrx CoO4 and many hole-doped copper oxide superconductors. The results establish a solid empirical basis for theories of the hourglass spectrum built on short-range, quasi-static, stripe correlations
Incident venous thromboembolic events in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER)
<p>Background: Venous thromboembolic events (VTE), including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, are common in older age. It has been suggested that statins might reduce the risk of VTE however positive results from studies of middle aged subjects may not be generalisable to elderly people. We aimed to determine the effect of pravastatin on incident VTE in older people; we also studied the impact of clinical and plasma risk variables.</p>
<p>Methods: This study was an analysis of incident VTE using data from the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pravastatin in men and women aged 70-82. Mean follow-up was 3.2 years. Risk for VTE was examined in non-warfarin treated pravastatin (n = 2834) and placebo (n = 2865) patients using a Cox's proportional hazard model, and the impact of other risk factors assessed in a multivariate forward stepwise regression analysis. Baseline clinical characteristics, blood biochemistry and hematology variables, plasma levels of lipids and lipoproteins, and plasma markers of inflammation and adiposity were compared. Plasma markers of thrombosis and hemostasis were assessed in a nested case (n = 48) control (n = 93) study where the cohort was those participants, not on warfarin, for whom data were available.</p>
<p>Results: There were 28 definite cases (1.0%) of incident VTE in the pravastatin group recipients and 20 cases (0.70%) in placebo recipients. Pravastatin did not reduce VTE in PROSPER compared to placebo [unadjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.42 (0.80, 2.52) p = 0.23]. Higher body mass index (BMI) [1.09 (1.02, 1.15) p = 0.0075], country [Scotland vs Netherlands 4.26 (1.00, 18.21) p = 0.050 and Ireland vs Netherlands 6.16 (1.46, 26.00) p = 0.013], lower systolic blood pressure [1.35 (1.03, 1.75) p = 0.027] and lower baseline Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score [1.19 (1.01, 1.41) p = 0.034] were associated with an increased risk of VTE, however only BMI, country and systolic blood pressure remained significant on multivariate analysis. In a nested case control study of definite VTE, plasma Factor VIII levels were associated with VTE [1.52 (1.01, 2.28), p = 0.044]. However no other measure of thrombosis and haemostasis was associated with increased risk of VTE.</p>
<p>Conclusions: Pravastatin does not prevent VTE in elderly people at risk of vascular disease. Blood markers of haemostasis and inflammation are not strongly predictive of VTE in older age however BMI, country and lower systolic blood pressure are independently associated with VTE risk.</p>
Clinical Trials: Minimising source data queries to streamline endpoint adjudication in a large multi-national trial
Abstract Background: The UK Clinical Trial Regulations and Good Clinical Practice guidelines specify that the study sponsor must ensure clinical trial data are accurately reported, recorded and verified to ensure patient safety and scientific integrity. The methods that are utilised to assess data quality and the results of any reviews undertaken are rarely reported in the literature. We have recently undertaken a quality review of trial data submitted to a Clinical Endpoint Committee for adjudication. The purpose of the review was to identify areas that could be improved for future clinical trials. The results are reported in this paper. Methods: Throughout the course of the study, all data queries were logged. Following study close out, queries were coded and categorised. A descriptive and comparative analysis was conducted to determine the frequency of occurrence for each category by country of origin
Assessing the exposure risk and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment on individuals and ecosystems.
The use of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals is increasing. Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of research into potential environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. A Royal Society-supported seminar brought together experts from diverse scientific fields to discuss the risks posed by pharmaceuticals to wildlife. Recent analytical advances have revealed that pharmaceuticals are entering habitats via water, sewage, manure and animal carcases, and dispersing through food chains. Pharmaceuticals are designed to alter physiology at low doses and so can be particularly potent contaminants. The near extinction of Asian vultures following exposure to diclofenac is the key example where exposure to a pharmaceutical caused a population-level impact on non-target wildlife. However, more subtle changes to behaviour and physiology are rarely studied and poorly understood. Grand challenges for the future include developing more realistic exposure assessments for wildlife, assessing the impacts of mixtures of pharmaceuticals in combination with other environmental stressors and estimating the risks from pharmaceutical manufacturing and usage in developing countries. We concluded that an integration of diverse approaches is required to predict 'unexpected' risks; specifically, ecologically relevant, often long-term and non-lethal, consequences of pharmaceuticals in the environment for wildlife and ecosystems
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