30,885 research outputs found
An Online Educational Program Improves Pediatric Oncology Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Spiritual Care Competence
This study evaluated the potential impact of an online spiritual care educational program on pediatric nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. It was hypothesized that the intervention would increase nurses’ positive attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and increase nurses’ level of perceived spiritual care competence. A positive correlation was expected between change in nurses’ perceived attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and change in nurses’ perceived spiritual care competence. A prospective, longitudinal design was employed, and analyses included one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, linear regression, and partial correlation. Statistically significant differences were found in nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nurses’ perceived spiritual care competence. There was a positive relationship between change scores in nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and nurses’ spiritual care competence. Online spiritual care educational programs may exert a lasting impact on nurses’ attitudes toward and knowledge of spiritual care and their competence to provide spiritual care to children with cancer at the end of life. Additional studies are required to evaluate the direct effects of educational interventions patient outcomes
A New Approach to Large-Scale Nuclear Structure Calculations
A new approach to large-scale nuclear structure calculations, based on the
Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG), is described. The method is tested
in the context of a problem involving many identical nucleons constrained to
move in a single large-j shell and interacting via a pairing plus quadrupole
interaction. In cases in which exact diagonalization of the hamiltonian is
possible, the method is able to reproduce the exact results for the ground
state energy and the energies of low-lying excited states with extreme
precision. Results are also presented for a model problem in which exact
solution is not feasible.Comment: 6 pages + 1 eps figur
Efficacy and effectiveness of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine versus artesunate-mefloquine in falciparum malaria: an open-label randomised comparison.
BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combinations are judged the best treatments for multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Artesunate-mefloquine is widely recommended in southeast Asia, but its high cost and tolerability profile remain obstacles to widespread deployment. To assess whether dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is a suitable alternative to artesunate-mefloquine, we compared the safety, tolerability, efficacy, and effectiveness of the two regimens for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum in western Myanmar (Burma). METHODS: We did an open randomised comparison of 3-day regimens of artesunate-mefloquine (12/25 mg/kg) versus dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (6.3/50 mg/kg) for the treatment of children aged 1 year or older and in adults with uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. Within each group, patients were randomly assigned supervised or non-supervised treatment. The primary endpoint was the PCR-confirmed parasitological failure rate by day 42. Failure rates at day 42 were estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN27914471. FINDINGS: Of 652 patients enrolled, 327 were assigned dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (156 supervised and 171 not supervised), and 325 artesunate-mefloquine (162 and 163, respectively). 16 patients were lost to follow-up, and one patient died 22 days after receiving dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine. Recrudescent parasitaemias were confirmed in only two patients; the day 42 failure rate was 0.6% (95% CI 0.2-2.5) for dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and 0 (0-1.2) for artesunate-mefloquine. Whole-blood piperaquine concentrations at day 7 were similar for patients with observed and non-observed dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine treatment. Gametocytaemia developed more frequently in patients who had received dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine than in those on artesunate-mefloquine: day 7, 18 (10%) of 188 versus five (2%) of 218; relative risk 4.2 (1.6-11.0) p=0.011. INTERPRETATION: Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is a highly efficacious and inexpensive treatment of multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria and is well tolerated by all age groups. The effectiveness of the unsupervised treatment, as in the usual context of use, equalled its supervised efficacy, indicating good adherence without supervision. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is a good alternative to artesunate-mefloquine
X-ray and Radio Interactions in the Cores of Cooling Flow Clusters
We present high resolution ROSAT x-ray and radio observations of three
cooling flow clusters containing steep spectrum radio sources at their cores.
All three systems exhibit strong signs of interaction between the radio plasma
and the hot intracluster medium. Two clusters, A133 and A2626, show enhanced
x-ray emission spatially coincident with the radio source whereas the third
cluster, A2052, exhibits a large region of x-ray excess surrounding much of the
radio source. Using 3-D numerical simulations, we show that a perturbed jet
propagating through a cooling flow atmosphere can give rise to amorphous radio
morphologies, particularly in the case where the jet was ``turned off'' and
allowed to age passively. In addition, the simulated x-ray surface brightness
produced both excesses and deficits as seen observationally.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A
Orbital Order Effect of Two-Dimensional Spin Gap System for CaV4O9
Effects of possible orbital order in magnetic properties of two-dimensional
spin gap system for CaVO are investigated theoretically. After
analyzing experimental data, we show that single orbital models assumed in the
literature are insufficient to reproduce the data. To understand the origin of
the discrepancy, we assume that in state of V, and
orbitals have substantial contributions in the lowest-energy atomic level which
leads to a double-degeneracy. We study possible configurations of the orbital
order. By exact diagonalization and perturbation expansion, we calculate the
susceptibility, wavenumber dependence of low-lying excitations and equal-time
spin-spin correlations which is related to integrated intensity of the neutron
inelastic scattering. These quantities sensitively depend on the configuration
of the orbital order. The calculated results for some configurations of the
orbital order reproduce many experimental results much better than the previous
single-orbital models. However some discrepancy still remains to completely
reproduce all of the reported experimental results. To understand the origin of
these discrepancies, we point out the possible importance of the partially
occupied orbital in addition to orbital order of partially filled
and orbitals.Comment: 19 pages LATEX, 15 postscript figures, using jpsj.sty,to be published
in J.Phys.Soc.Jpn. Vol.67 No.2 (1998
Butterfly diagram of a Sun-like star observed using asteroseismology
Stellar magnetic fields are poorly understood but are known to be important
for stellar evolution and exoplanet habitability. They drive stellar activity,
which is the main observational constraint on theoretical models for magnetic
field generation and evolution. Starspots are the main manifestation of the
magnetic fields at the stellar surface. In this study we measure the variation
of their latitude with time, called a butterfly diagram in the solar case, for
the solar analogue HD 173701 (KIC 8006161). To that effect, we use Kepler data,
to combine starspot rotation rates at different epochs and the
asteroseismically determined latitudinal variation of the stellar rotation
rates. We observe a clear variation of the latitude of the starspots. It is the
first time such a diagram is constructed using asteroseismic data.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted in A&A Letter
Thermodynamics of the (1,1/2) Ferrimagnet in Finite Magnetic Fields
We investigate the specific heat and magnetisation of a ferrimagnet with gS=1
and S=1/2 spins in a finite magnetic field using the transfer matrix DMRG down
to T=0.025J. Ferromagnetic gapless and antiferromagnetic gapped excitations for
H=0 lead to rich thermodynamics for H > 0. While the specific heat is
characterized by a generic double peak structure, magnetisation reveals two
critical fields, Hc1=1.76(1) and Hc2=3.00(1) with square-root behaviour in the
T=0 magnetisation. Simple analytical arguments allow to understand these
experimentally accessible findings.Comment: 5 pages, 7 eps figures, uses RevTeX, submitted to PR
Pairing Correlations on t-U-J Ladders
Pairing correlations on generalized t-U-J two-leg ladders are reported. We
find that the pairing correlations on the usual t-U Hubbard ladder are
significantly enhanced by the addition of a nearest-neighbor exchange
interaction J. Likewise, these correlations are also enhanced for the t-J model
when the onsite Coulomb interaction is reduced from infinity. Moreover, the
pairing correlations are larger on a t-U-J ladder than on a t-Jeff ladder in
which Jeff has been adjusted so that the two models have the same spin gap at
half-filling. This enhancement of the pairing correlations is associated with
an increase in the pair-binding energy and the pair mobility in the t-U-J model
and point to the importance of the charge transfer nature of the cuprate
systems
Heisenberg exchange in magnetic monoxides
The superexchange intertacion in transition-metal oxides, proposed initially
by Anderson in 1950, is treated using contemporary tight-binding theory and
existing parameters. We find also a direct exchange for nearest-neighbor metal
ions, larger by a factor of order five than the superexchange. This direct
exchange arises from Vddm coupling, rather than overlap of atomic charge
densities, a small overlap exchange contribution which we also estimate. For
FeO and CoO there is also an important negative contribution, related to Stoner
ferromagnetism, from the partially filled minority-spin band which broadens
when ionic spins are aligned. The corresponding J1 and J2 parameters are
calculated for MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO. They give good accounts of the Neel and
the Curie-Weiss temperatures, show appropriate trends, and give a reasonable
account of their volume dependences. For MnO the predicted value for the
magnetic susceptibility at the Neel temperature and the crystal distortion
arising from the antiferromagnetic transition were reasonably well given.
Application to CuO2 planes in the cuprates gives J=1220oK, compared to an
experimental 1500oK, and for LiCrO2 gives J1=4 50oK compared to an experimental
230oK.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. B 1/19/07. Realized
J=4V^2/U applies generally, as opposed to J=2V^2/U from one-electron theory
(1/28 revision
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