1,161 research outputs found
Measuring Nurses’ Impact on Health Care Quality: Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions
Background: Quality measurement is central in efforts to improve health care delivery and financing. The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative supported interdisciplinary research teams to address gaps in measuring the contributions of nursing to quality care. Objective: To summarize the research of 4 interdisciplinary teams funded by The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative and reflect on challenges and future directions to improving quality measurement. Methods: Each team summarized their work including the targeted gap in measurement, the methods used, key results, and next steps. The authors discussed key challenges and recommended future directions. Results: These exemplar projects addressed cross-cutting issues related to quality; developed measures of patient experience; tested new ways to model the important relationships between structure, process, and outcome; measured care across the continuum; focused on positive aspects of care; examined the relationship of nursing care with outcomes; and measured both nursing and interdisciplinary care. Discussion: Challenges include: measuring care delivery from multiple perspectives; determining the dose of care delivered; and measuring the entire care process. Meaningful measures that are simple, feasible, affordable, and integrated into the care delivery system and electronic health record are needed. Advances in health information systems create opportunities to advance quality measurement in innovative ways. Conclusions: These findings and products add to the robust set of measures needed to measure nurses’ contributions to the care of hospitalized patients. The implementation of these projects has been rich with lessons about the ongoing challenges related to quality measurement
Magnetic flux in mesoscopic rings: Quantum Smoluchowski regime
Magnetic flux in mesoscopic rings under the quantum Smoluchowski regime is
investigated. Quantum corrections to the dissipative current are shown to form
multistable steady states and can result in statistical enhancement of the
magnetic flux. The relevance of quantum correction effects is supported v ia
the entropic criterion. A possible application for a qutrit architecture of
quantum information is proposed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Unfolding Rates for the Diffusion-Collision Model
In the diffusion-collision model, the unfolding rates are given by the
likelihood of secondary structural cluster dissociation. In this work, we
introduce an unfolding rate calculation for proteins whose secondary structural
elements are -helices, modeled from thermal escape over a barrier which
arises from the free energy in buried hydrophobic residues. Our results are in
good agreement with currently accepted values for the attempt rate.Comment: Shorter version of cond-mat/0011024 accepted for publication in PR
Implementation of an Optimal First-Order Method for Strongly Convex Total Variation Regularization
We present a practical implementation of an optimal first-order method, due
to Nesterov, for large-scale total variation regularization in tomographic
reconstruction, image deblurring, etc. The algorithm applies to -strongly
convex objective functions with -Lipschitz continuous gradient. In the
framework of Nesterov both and are assumed known -- an assumption
that is seldom satisfied in practice. We propose to incorporate mechanisms to
estimate locally sufficient and during the iterations. The mechanisms
also allow for the application to non-strongly convex functions. We discuss the
iteration complexity of several first-order methods, including the proposed
algorithm, and we use a 3D tomography problem to compare the performance of
these methods. The results show that for ill-conditioned problems solved to
high accuracy, the proposed method significantly outperforms state-of-the-art
first-order methods, as also suggested by theoretical results.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure
Obesity Accelerates Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in Mice and Reduces Sex Differences in Latency and Penetrance
Objective: Obesity has emerged as a prominent risk factor for multiple serious disease states, including a variety of cancers, and is increasingly recognized as a primary contributor to preventable cancer risk. However, few studies of leukemia have been conducted in animal models of obesity. This study sought to characterize the impact of obesity, diet, and sex in a murine model of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Methods: Male and female C57BL/6J.mCG+/PR mice, genetically predisposed to sporadic APL development, and C57BL/6J (wild type) mice were placed on either a high-fat diet (HFD) or a low-fat diet (LFD) for up to 500 days. Results: Relative to LFD-fed mice, HFD-fed animals displayed increased disease penetrance and shortened disease latency as indicated by accelerated disease onset. In addition, a diet-responsive sex difference in APL penetrance and incidence was identified, with LFD-fed male animals displaying increased penetrance and shortened latency relative to female counterparts. In contrast, both HFD-fed male and female mice displayed 100% disease penetrance and insignificant differences in disease latency, indicating that the sexual dimorphism was reduced through HFD feeding. Conclusions: Obesity and obesogenic diet promote the development of APL in vivo, reducing sexual dimorphisms in disease latency and penetrance
Theoretical Models of Sunspot Structure and Dynamics
Recent progress in theoretical modeling of a sunspot is reviewed. The
observed properties of umbral dots are well reproduced by realistic simulations
of magnetoconvection in a vertical, monolithic magnetic field. To understand
the penumbra, it is useful to distinguish between the inner penumbra, dominated
by bright filaments containing slender dark cores, and the outer penumbra, made
up of dark and bright filaments of comparable width with corresponding magnetic
fields differing in inclination by some 30 degrees and strong Evershed flows in
the dark filaments along nearly horizontal or downward-plunging magnetic
fields. The role of magnetic flux pumping in submerging magnetic flux in the
outer penumbra is examined through numerical experiments, and different
geometric models of the penumbral magnetic field are discussed in the light of
high-resolution observations. Recent, realistic numerical MHD simulations of an
entire sunspot have succeeded in reproducing the salient features of the
convective pattern in the umbra and the inner penumbra. The siphon-flow
mechanism still provides the best explanation of the Evershed flow,
particularly in the outer penumbra where it often consists of cool, supersonic
downflows.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the
Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200
The Third wave in globalization theory
This essay examines a proposition made in the literature that there are three waves in globalization theory—the globalist, skeptical, and postskeptical or transformational waves—and argues that this division requires a new look. The essay is a critique of the third of these waves and its relationship with the second wave. Contributors to the third wave not only defend the idea of globalization from criticism by the skeptics but also try to construct a more complex and qualified theory of globalization than provided by first-wave accounts. The argument made here is that third-wave authors come to conclusions that try to defend globalization yet include qualifications that in practice reaffirm skeptical claims. This feature of the literature has been overlooked in debates and the aim of this essay is to revisit the literature and identify as well as discuss this problem. Such a presentation has political implications. Third wavers propose globalist cosmopolitan democracy when the substance of their arguments does more in practice to bolster the skeptical view of politics based on inequality and conflict, nation-states and regional blocs, and alliances of common interest or ideology rather than cosmopolitan global structures
Increased ventral striatal volume in college-aged binge drinkers
BACKGROUND
Binge drinking is a serious public health issue associated with cognitive, physiological, and anatomical differences from healthy individuals. No studies, however, have reported subcortical grey matter differences in this population. To address this, we compared the grey matter volumes of college-age binge drinkers and healthy controls, focusing on the ventral striatum, hippocampus and amygdala.
METHOD
T1-weighted images of 19 binge drinkers and 19 healthy volunteers were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry. Structural data were also covaried with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. Cluster-extent threshold and small volume corrections were both used to analyze imaging data.
RESULTS
Binge drinkers had significantly larger ventral striatal grey matter volumes compared to controls. There were no between group differences in hippocampal or amygdalar volume. Ventral striatal, amygdalar, and hippocampal volumes were also negatively related to AUDIT scores across groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings stand in contrast to the lower ventral striatal volume previously observed in more severe forms of alcohol use disorders, suggesting that college-age binge drinkers may represent a distinct population from those groups. These findings may instead represent early sequelae, compensatory effects of repeated binge and withdrawal, or an endophenotypic risk factor
Relationship between craving and personality in treatment-seeking women with substance-related disorders
BACKGROUND: Individual differences may impact susceptibility to addiction. The impact of personality features on drug craving, however, has not been studied, particularly in women. METHODS: Ninety-five treatment-seeking women with substance dependence, abstinent for at least 5 and no more than 21 days, were investigated regarding the correlation between personality factors and craving. Personality was assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11). Cravings were assessed through the Pennsylvania Craving Scale (PCS), and the Craving Questionnaire (CQ). Anxiety and depressive symptomatology were also recorded. RESULTS: Craving scores were positively correlated with depression and negatively correlated with number of days abstinent from substance use. Also, craving scores were positively associated with the novelty-seeking factor from the TCI and the total score on the BIS-11, and negatively associated with the conscientiousness and agreeableness facets of the NEO-PI-R. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that personality features, particularly impulsiveness, can be important predictors of craving in women, which has important implications for treatment planning
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