Shared geriatric mental health care in a rural community

Introduction: A pilot project in shared mental health care was initiated to explore opportunities to increase the capacity of the rural primary care system as a resource for older people with mental health needs. This was done within a framework for the delivery of best practices in geriatric mental health outreach. Methods: Shared-care strategies combining education and clinical consultation between mentor psychiatrists and family physicians were implemented and then evaluated after one year to identify key factors in the success of approaches to shared mental health care for older people in a rural setting. Results: Results provided new insights into shared care between primary care and specialty geriatric mental health services, rural geriatric mental health service delivery, developmental phases in service learning approaches, and building knowledge networks to promote continuing best practices. Conclusion: The results from the project's process evaluation have been integrated into the development of a permanent shared geriatric mental health care service for the rural setting. Preparation for an outcome evaluation that will focus on the impact on patient care has also been initiated

Coulomb drag between two spin incoherent Luttinger liquids

In a one dimensional electron gas at low enough density, the magnetic (spin) exchange energy $J$ between neighboring electrons is exponentially suppressed relative to the characteristic charge energy, the Fermi energy $E_F$. At non-zero temperature $T$, the energy hierarchy $J \ll T \ll E_F$ can be reached, and we refer to this as the spin incoherent Lutinger liquid state. We discuss the Coulomb drag between two parallel quantum wires in the spin incoherent regime, as well as the crossover to this state from the low temperature regime by using a model of a fluctuating Wigner solid. As the temperature increases from zero to above $J$ for a fixed electron density, the $2k_F$ oscillations in the density-density correlations are lost. As a result, the temperature dependence of the Coulomb drag is dramatically altered and non-monotonic dependence may result. Drag between wires of equal and unequal density are discussed, as well as the effects of weak disorder in the wires. We speculate that weak disorder may play an important role in extracting information about quantum wires in real drag experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

Thermal fluctuations in pinned elastic systems: field theory of rare events and droplets

Using the functional renormalization group (FRG) we study the thermal fluctuations of elastic objects, described by a displacement field u and internal dimension d, pinned by a random potential at low temperature T, as prototypes for glasses. A challenge is how the field theory can describe both typical (minimum energy T=0) configurations, as well as thermal averages which, at any non-zero T as in the phenomenological droplet picture, are dominated by rare degeneracies between low lying minima. We show that this occurs through an essentially non-perturbative *thermal boundary layer* (TBL) in the (running) effective action Gamma[u] at T>0 for which we find a consistent scaling ansatz to all orders. The TBL resolves the singularities of the T=0 theory and contains rare droplet physics. The formal structure of this TBL is explored around d=4 using a one loop Wilson RG. A more systematic Exact RG (ERG) method is employed and tested on d=0 models. There we obtain precise relations between TBL quantities and droplet probabilities which are checked against exact results. We illustrate how the TBL scaling remains consistent to all orders in higher d using the ERG and how droplet picture results can be retrieved. Finally, we solve for d=0,N=1 the formidable "matching problem" of how this T>0 TBL recovers a critical T=0 field theory. We thereby obtain the beta-function at T=0, *all ambiguities removed*, displayed here up to four loops. A discussion of d>4 case and an exact solution at large d are also provided

Staff outdoor positioning in large area campus using GPS enabled phone, Google Map and mobile network

This paper explore the feasibility of using GPS enabled phone to locate staff in a large campus area on a customized campus map. This system provides an alternative approach to locate staff compared to static directory. GPS foot printing enable the system to determine which campus building that the staff is in. The map can be viewed on Internet connected browser via personal computer or mobile device

Leishmaniose en Equateur : 5. Leishmaniose et anthropisation sur la façade pacifique

On a étudié l'impact de l'anthropisation du milieu forestier sur l'incidence de la leishmaniose, due à #Leishmania panamensis, dans trois stations côtières de l'Equateur, Corriente Grande, en forêt primaire, Paraiso Escondido et La Tablada, en forêt secondarisée; on a considéré aussi la situation des maisons isolées en milieu déforesté dans les deux dernières stations. En parallèle, on a étudié la densité des espèces de phlébotomes anthropophiles, particulièrement #Lutzomyia trapidoi, dans le milieu domestique et les caféières adjacentes, ainsi qu'en sous-bois. L'incidence de la leishmaniose était quasiment nulle en forêt primaire, alors qu'elle oscillait entre 106 et 147 °/oo en forêt plus ou moins dégradée. A Corriente Grande, aucun #Lu. trapidoi$n'était récolté dans les maisons; en sous-bois ses récoltes atteignaient 8$ représentait plus de 83 % des captures en sous-bois et dans les caféières (41 Homme/heure), ainsi que dans les maisons (10,6 H/h). A La Tablada, en milieu domestique, #Lu. gomezi était l'espèce dominante : 2,8 H/h contre 1 H/h #Lu. trapidoi, dans les caféières et en sous-bois #Lu. trapidoi était l'espèce dominante, 21 H/h et 14 H/h. En forêt primaire très humide, la transmission peut être très faible. En milieu secondarisé, les caféières proches des habitations procurent un excellent biotope aux populations de #Lu. trapidoi; le cycle de #L. panamensis s'est adapté à cette situation écologique en se rapprochant des maisons, les réservoirs circulant dans les caféières. En milieu déforesté, on ne constate plus de nuisances de phlébotomes et plus de transmission de leishmaniose. (Résumé d'auteur