A Preliminary Assessment of Mental Health Needs Faced in Religious Leaders in Eastern Europe

Enormous sociopolitical changes in Eastern Europe in the last decade have had a profound impact on the psychological functioning of the citizens of these nations. In order to assess and intervene in the mental health realm in Eastern Europe, a brief survey was sent to various Christian leaders in Eastern Europe. Common mental health problems identified across the various Eastern European countries and cultures include depression, relationship difficulties, alcohol abuse, and anxiety disorders. Christians in Eastern Europe tend to turn to family and friends for help with these problems first, pastors second, and almost never to mental health professionals. Clergy and laypersons have little training in mental health issues. A promising direction for future service is training those who can, in turn, train Eastern European laypersons in basic listening and support skills. Cultural awareness and sensitivity will be of paramount importance in such an endeavor

New Monte Carlo method for planar Poisson-Voronoi cells

By a new Monte Carlo algorithm we evaluate the sidedness probability p_n of a planar Poisson-Voronoi cell in the range 3 \leq n \leq 1600. The algorithm is developed on the basis of earlier theoretical work; it exploits, in particular, the known asymptotic behavior of p_n as n\to\infty. Our p_n values all have between four and six significant digits. Accurate n dependent averages, second moments, and variances are obtained for the cell area and the cell perimeter. The numerical large n behavior of these quantities is analyzed in terms of asymptotic power series in 1/n. Snapshots are shown of typical occurrences of extremely rare events implicating cells of up to n=1600 sides embedded in an ordinary Poisson-Voronoi diagram. We reveal and discuss the characteristic features of such many-sided cells and their immediate environment. Their relevance for observable properties is stressed.Comment: 35 pages including 10 figures and 4 table

Prevalence and factors associated with parental concerns about development detected by the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) at 6-month, 12-month and 18-month well-child checks in a birth cohort

Objectives: Early identification of developmental vulnerability is vital. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of moderate or high developmental risk on the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) at 6-month, 12-month and 18-month well-child checks; identify associated risk factors; and examine documentation of the PEDS at well-child checks. Design, participants: A prospective birth cohort of 2025 children with 50% of those approached agreeing to participate. Demographic data were obtained via questionnaires and linked electronic medical records. Telephone interviews were conducted with parents to collect PEDS data. Primary and secondary outcomes: Multiple logistic regression analyses identified risk factors for moderate or high developmental risk on the PEDS. A Cumulative Risk Index examined the impact of multiple risk factors on developmental risk and documentation of the PEDS at the well-child checks. Results: Of the original cohort, 792 (39%) had 6-month, 649 (32%) had 12-month and 565 (28%) had 18-month PEDS data. Parental concerns indicating moderate or high developmental risk on the PEDS were 27% (95% CI 24 to 30) at 6 months, 27% (95% CI 24 to 30) at 12 months and 33% (95% CI 29 to 37) at 18 months. Factors associated with moderate or high developmental risk were perinatal risk (OR 12 months: 1.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.7)); maternal Middle Eastern or Asian nationality (OR 6 months: 1.6 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.4)), (OR 12 months: 1.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.7)); and household disadvantage (OR 6 months: 1.5 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.2). As the number of risk factors increased the odds increased for high or moderate developmental risk and no documentation of the PEDS at well-child checks. Conclusions: Children with multiple risk factors are more likely to have parental concerns indicating

Quality evaluation of olive oil by statistical analysis of multicomponent stable isotope dilution assay data of aroma active compounds

An instrumental method for the evaluation of olive oil quality was developed. Twenty-one relevant aroma active compounds were quantified in 95 olive oil samples of different quality by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and dynamic headspace coupled to GC-MS. On the basis of these stable isotope dilution assay results, statistical evaluation by partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was performed. Important variables were the odor activity values of ethyl isobutanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, 3-methylbutanol, butyric acid, E,E-2,4-decadienal, hexanoic acid, guaiacol, 2-phenylethanol, and the sum of the odor activity values of Z-3-hexenal, E-2-hexenal, Z-3-hexenyl acetate, and Z-3-hexenol. Classification performed with these variables predicted 88% of the olive oils? quality correctly. Additionally, the aroma compounds, which are characteristic for some off-flavors, were dissolved in refined plant oil. Sensory evaluation of these models demonstrated that the off-flavors rancid, fusty, and vinegary could be successfully simulated by a limited number of odorants

Measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron

We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey's method of separated oscillating magnetic fields with ultracold neutrons (UCN). Our measurement stands in the long history of EDM experiments probing physics violating time reversal invariance. The salient features of this experiment were the use of a Hg-199 co-magnetometer and an array of optically pumped cesium vapor magnetometers to cancel and correct for magnetic field changes. The statistical analysis was performed on blinded datasets by two separate groups while the estimation of systematic effects profited from an unprecedented knowledge of the magnetic field. The measured value of the neutron EDM is d_{\rm n} = (0.0\pm1.1_{\rm stat}\pm0.2_{\rmsys})\times10^{-26}e\,{\rm cm}

First observation of cyclotron radiation from MeV-scale epm{\rm e}^{pm} following nuclear beta decay

We present an apparatus for detection of cyclotron radiation that allows a frequency-based beta energy determination in the 5 keV to 5 MeV range, characteristic of nuclear beta decays. The cyclotron frequency of the radiating beta particles in a magnetic field is used to determine the beta energy precisely. Our work establishes the foundation to apply the cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy (CRES) technique, developed by the Project 8 collaboration, far beyond the 18-keV tritium endpoint region. We report initial measurements of beta^-s from 6He and beta^+s from 19Ne decays to demonstrate the broadband response of our detection system and assess potential systematic uncertainties for beta spectroscopy over the full (MeV) energy range. This work is an important benchmark for the practical application of the CRES technique to a variety of nuclei, in particular, opening its reach to searches for evidence of new physics beyond the TeV scale via precision beta-decay measurements

Diagnostic and treatment pathways for men with prostate cancer in Queensland: investigating spatial and demographic inequalities

Background: Patterns of diagnosis and management for men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Queensland, Australia, have not yet been systematically documented and so assumptions of equity are untested. This longitudinal study investigates the association between prostate cancer diagnostic and treatment outcomes and key area-level characteristics and individual-level demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors.---------- Methods/Design: A total of 1064 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between February 2005 and July 2007 were recruited through hospital-based urology outpatient clinics and private practices in the centres of Brisbane, Townsville and Mackay (82% of those referred). Additional clinical and diagnostic information for all 6609 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Queensland during the study period was obtained via the population-based Queensland Cancer Registry. Respondent data are collected using telephone and self-administered questionnaires at pre-treatment and at 2 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months and 60 months post-treatment. Assessments include demographics, medical history, patterns of care, disease and treatment characteristics together with outcomes associated with prostate cancer, as well as information about quality of life and psychological adjustment. Complementary detailed treatment information is abstracted from participants’ medical records held in hospitals and private treatment facilities and collated with health service utilisation data obtained from Medicare Australia. Information about the characteristics of geographical areas is being obtained from data custodians such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Geo-coding and spatial technology will be used to calculate road travel distances from patients’ residences to treatment centres. Analyses will be conducted using standard statistical methods along with multilevel regression models including individual and area-level components.---------- Conclusions: Information about the diagnostic and treatment patterns of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is crucial for rational planning and development of health delivery and supportive care services to ensure equitable access to health services, regardless of geographical location and individual characteristics. This study is a secondary outcome of the randomised controlled trial registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12607000233426

Equity In Health care financing in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review of evidence from studies using benefit and financing incidence analyses

© 2016 Asante et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction: Health financing reforms in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) over the past decades have focused on achieving equity in financing of health care delivery through universal health coverage. Benefit and financing incidence analyses are two analytical methods for comprehensively evaluating how well health systems perform on these objectives. This systematic review assesses progress towards equity in health care financing in LMICs through the use of BIA and FIA. Methods and Findings: Key electronic databases including Medline, Embase, Scopus, Global Health, CinAHL, EconLit and Business Source Premier were searched. We also searched the grey literature, specifically websites of leading organizations supporting health care in LMICs. Only studies using benefit incidence analysis (BIA) and/or financing incidence analysis (FIA) as explicit methodology were included. A total of 512 records were obtained from the various sources. The full texts of 87 references were assessed against the selection criteria and 24 were judged appropriate for inclusion. Twelve of the 24 studies originated from sub-Saharan Africa, nine from the Asia-Pacific region, two from Latin America and one from the Middle East. The evidence points to a pro-rich distribution of total health care benefits and progressive financing in both sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific. In the majority of cases, the distribution of benefits at the primary health care level favoured the poor while hospital level services benefit the better-off. A few Asian countries, namely Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, maintained a pro-poor distribution of health care benefits and progressive financing. Conclusion: Studies evaluated in this systematic review indicate that health care financing in LMICs benefits the rich more than the poor but the burden of financing also falls more on the rich. There is some evidence that primary health care is pro-poor suggesting a greater investment in such services and removal of barriers to care can enhance equity. The results overall suggest that there are impediments to making health care more accessible to the poor and this must be addressed if universal health coverage is to be a reality

Fundamental Neutron Physics: a White Paper on Progress and Prospects in the US

Fundamental neutron physics, combining precision measurements and theory, probes particle physics at short range with reach well beyond the highest energies probed by the LHC. Significant US efforts are underway that will probe BSM CP violation with orders of magnitude more sensitivity, provide new data on the Cabibbo anomaly, more precisely measure the neutron lifetime and decay, and explore hadronic parity violation. World-leading results from the US Fundamental Neutron Physics community since the last Long Range Plan, include the world's most precise measurement of the neutron lifetime from UCN$\tau$, the final results on the beta-asymmetry from UCNA and new results on hadronic parity violation from the NPDGamma and n-${^3}$He runs at the FNPB (Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline), precision measurement of the radiative neutron decay mode and n-${}^4$He at NIST. US leadership and discovery potential are ensured by the development of new high-impact experiments including BL3, Nab, LANL nEDM and nEDM@SNS. On the theory side, the last few years have seen results for the neutron EDM from the QCD $\theta$ term, a factor of two reduction in the uncertainty for inner radiative corrections in beta-decay which impacts CKM unitarity, and progress on {\it ab initio} calculations of nuclear structure for medium-mass and heavy nuclei which can eventually improve the connection between nuclear and nucleon EDMs. In order to maintain this exciting program and capitalize on past investments while also pursuing new ideas and building US leadership in new areas, the Fundamental Neutron Physics community has identified a number of priorities and opportunities for our sub-field covering the time-frame of the last Long Range Plan (LRP) under development. This white paper elaborates on these priorities.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2304.0345