1,219 research outputs found
Application of quality improvement strategies in 389 European hospitals: results of the MARQuIS project
Differentiating between hospitals according to the "maturity'' of quality improvement systems: a new classification scheme in a sample of European hospitals
Persistence at the onset of spatiotemporal intermittency in coupled map lattices
We study persistence in coupled circle map lattices at the onset of
spatiotemporal intermittency, an onset which marks a continuous transition, in
the universality class of directed percolation, to a unique absorbing state. We
obtain a local persistence exponent of theta_l = 1.49 +- 0.02 at this
transition, a value which closely matches values for theta_l obtained in
stochastic models of directed percolation. This result constitutes suggestive
evidence for the universality of persistence exponents at the directed
percolation transition. Given that many experimental systems are modelled
accurately by coupled map lattices, experimental measurements of this
persistence exponent may be feasible.Comment: 7 pages, Latex, 6 Postscript figures, Europhysics Letters (to appear
Differentiating between hospitals according to the “maturity” of quality improvement systems: a new classification scheme in a sample of European hospitals
Aim: This study, part of the Methods of Assessing Response to Quality Improvement Strategies (MARQuIS) research project focusing on cross-border patients in Europe, investigated quality policies and improvement in healthcare systems across the European Union (EU). The aim was to develop a classification scheme for the level of quality improvement (maturity) in EU hospitals, in order to evaluate hospitals according to the maturity of their quality improvement activities. Methods: A web-based questionnaire survey designed to measure quality improvement in EU hospitals was used as the basis for the classification scheme. Items included for the development of an evaluation tool-the maturity index-were considered important contributors to quality improvement. The four-stage quality cycle (plan, do, check and act) was used to determine the level of maturity of the various items. Psychometric properties of the classification scheme were assessed, and validation analyses were performed. Results: A total of 389 hospitals participated in a questionnaire survey; response rates varied by country. For a final sample of 349 hospitals, it was possible to construct a quality improvement maturity index which consisted of seven domains and 113 items. The results of independent analyses sustained the validity of the index, which was useful in differentiating between hospitals in the research sample according to the maturity of their quality improvement system (defined as the total of all quality improvement activities). Discussion: Further research is recommended to develop an instrument which for use in the future as a practical tool to evaluate the maturity of hospital quality improvement systems
High dillution of Staphysagria and fruit fly biotherapic preparations to manage South American fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus, in organic peach orchards.
The peach, Prunus persica, is an important economic crop in southern Brazil, where family farms are predominantly small. The South American fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus is a limiting factor to increased production in orchard crops. Increased organic production in Brazil has stimulated research to find ecological based pest management. This research was carried out in order to evaluate the efficacy of preparations at high dilution in managing A. fraterculus in organic peach orchards. Experiments were conducted under field conditions in randomized blocks during 2003/04 and 2004/05. Treatments consisted of A. fraterculus nosodes and Staphysagria homeopathic preparations, both at two high dilution levels, 3CH and 6CH (centesimal hahnemannian dilution method), applied at two spray intervals, 5 and 10 days, and a control. Fruit losses due to A. fraterculus infestation varied from 40 to 98.3%. Although there were significant differences among treatments in the first harvest of two of the three experiments there were no significant differences in the second harvest of any of the experiments. None of the homeopathic preparations reduced the incidence of infested fruit significantly below that of the water control in any of the three experiments. Further studies must combine other strategies such as bagging fruits and planting of early season cultivars. Variation on high dilution potency, dose, and frequency of application must also be considered
Application of quality improvement strategies in 389 European hospitals: results of the MARQuIS project
Context: This study was part of the Methods of Assessing Response to Quality Improvement Strategies (MARQuIS) research project investigating the impact of quality improvement strategies on hospital care in various countries of the European Union (EU), in relation to specific needs of cross-border patients. Aim: This paper describes how EU hospitals have applied seven quality improvement strategies previously defined by the MARQuIS study: organisational quality management programmes; systems for obtaining patients' views; patient safety systems; audit and internal assessment of clinical standards; clinical and practice guidelines; performance indicators; and external assessment. Methods: A web-based questionnaire was used to survey acute care hospitals in eight EU countries. The reported findings were later validated via on-site survey and site visits in a sample of the participating hospitals. Data collection took place from April to August 2006. Results: 389 hospitals participated in the survey; response rates varied per country. All seven quality improvement strategies were widely used in European countries. Activities related to external assessment were the most broadly applied across Europe, and activities related to patient involvement were the least widely implemented. No one country implemented all quality strategies at all hospitals. There were no differences between participating hospitals in western and eastern European countries regarding the application of quality improvement strategies. Conclusions: Implementation varied per country and per quality improvement strategy, leaving considerable scope for progress in quality improvements. The results may contribute to benchmarking activities in European countries, and point to further areas of research to explore the relationship between the application of quality improvement strategies and actual hospital performanc
Epidemic processes with immunization
We study a model of directed percolation (DP) with immunization, i.e. with
different probabilities for the first infection and subsequent infections. The
immunization effect leads to an additional non-Markovian term in the
corresponding field theoretical action. We consider immunization as a small
perturbation around the DP fixed point in d<6, where the non-Markovian term is
relevant. The immunization causes the system to be driven away from the
neighbourhood of the DP critical point. In order to investigate the dynamical
critical behaviour of the model, we consider the limits of low and high first
infection rate, while the second infection rate remains constant at the DP
critical value. Scaling arguments are applied to obtain an expression for the
survival probability in both limits. The corresponding exponents are written in
terms of the critical exponents for ordinary DP and DP with a wall. We find
that the survival probability does not obey a power law behaviour, decaying
instead as a stretched exponential in the low first infection probability limit
and to a constant in the high first infection probability limit. The
theoretical predictions are confirmed by optimized numerical simulations in 1+1
dimensions.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. v.2: minor correction
Yang-Lee zeros for a nonequilibrium phase transition
Equilibrium systems which exhibit a phase transition can be studied by
investigating the complex zeros of the partition function. This method,
pioneered by Yang and Lee, has been widely used in equilibrium statistical
physics. We show that an analogous treatment is possible for a nonequilibrium
phase transition into an absorbing state. By investigating the complex zeros of
the survival probability of directed percolation processes we demonstrate that
the zeros provide information about universal properties. Moreover we identify
certain non-trivial points where the survival probability for bond percolation
can be computed exactly.Comment: LaTeX, IOP-style, 13 pages, 10 eps figure
Building nonparametric -body force fields using Gaussian process regression
Constructing a classical potential suited to simulate a given atomic system
is a remarkably difficult task. This chapter presents a framework under which
this problem can be tackled, based on the Bayesian construction of
nonparametric force fields of a given order using Gaussian process (GP) priors.
The formalism of GP regression is first reviewed, particularly in relation to
its application in learning local atomic energies and forces. For accurate
regression it is fundamental to incorporate prior knowledge into the GP kernel
function. To this end, this chapter details how properties of smoothness,
invariance and interaction order of a force field can be encoded into
corresponding kernel properties. A range of kernels is then proposed,
possessing all the required properties and an adjustable parameter
governing the interaction order modelled. The order best suited to describe
a given system can be found automatically within the Bayesian framework by
maximisation of the marginal likelihood. The procedure is first tested on a toy
model of known interaction and later applied to two real materials described at
the DFT level of accuracy. The models automatically selected for the two
materials were found to be in agreement with physical intuition. More in
general, it was found that lower order (simpler) models should be chosen when
the data are not sufficient to resolve more complex interactions. Low GPs
can be further sped up by orders of magnitude by constructing the corresponding
tabulated force field, here named "MFF".Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, book chapte
Spin and e-e interactions in quantum dots: Leading order corrections to universality and temperature effects
We study the statistics of the spacing between Coulomb blockade conductance
peaks in quantum dots with large dimensionless conductance g. Our starting
point is the ``universal Hamiltonian''--valid in the g->oo limit--which
includes the charging energy, the single-electron energies (described by random
matrix theory), and the average exchange interaction. We then calculate the
magnitude of the most relevant finite g corrections, namely, the effect of
surface charge, the ``gate'' effect, and the fluctuation of the residual e-e
interaction. The resulting zero-temperature peak spacing distribution has
corrections of order Delta/sqrt(g). For typical values of the e-e interaction
(r_s ~ 1) and simple geometries, theory does indeed predict an asymmetric
distribution with a significant even/odd effect. The width of the distribution
is of order 0.3 Delta, and its dominant feature is a large peak for the odd
case, reminiscent of the delta-function in the g->oo limit. We consider finite
temperature effects next. Only after their inclusion is good agreement with the
experimental results obtained. Even relatively low temperature causes large
modifications in the peak spacing distribution: (a) its peak is dominated by
the even distribution at kT ~ 0.3 Delta (at lower T a double peak appears); (b)
it becomes more symmetric; (c) the even/odd effect is considerably weaker; (d)
the delta-function is completely washed-out; and (e) fluctuation of the
coupling to the leads becomes relevant. Experiments aimed at observing the T=0
peak spacing distribution should therefore be done at kT<0.1 Delta for typical
values of the e-e interaction.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
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