Superconducting NbN microstrip detectors

Superconducting NbN strip transmission line counters and coupling circuits were processed on silicon wafers using thin film techniques, and they were characterized with several methods to verify the design principles. The stripline circuits, designed using microwave design rules, were simulated using a circuit design tool enhanced to include modelling of the superconducting lines. The strips, etched out of the 282 nm thick top NbN film with resistivity 284 µ?cm at 20 K, have critical temperatures in the range 12 to 13 K and a critical current density approximately Jc(0) = 3.3·105 A/cm2. The linearized heat transfer coefficient between the strip and the substrate is approximately 1.1·105 W/(m2K) and the healing length is about 1.6 µm between 3 and 5 K temperatures. Traversing 5 MeV a-particles caused the strips to quench. No events due to electrons could be detected in agreement with the predicted signal amplitude which is below the noise threshold of our wideband circuitry. The strip bias current and hence the signal amplitude were limited due to a microbridge at the isolator step of the impedance transformer

Psychometric properties of the revised Developmental Behaviour Checklist scales in Dutch children with intellectual disability

The present study assessed the reliability and validity of the revised scales of the Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC) in a Dutch sample of children with intellectual disability (ID). The psychometric properties of the parent and teacher versions of the DBC were assessed in various subsamples derived from a sample of 1057 Dutch children (age range = 6-18 years) with ID or borderline intellectual functioning. Good test-retest reliability was shown both for the parent and teacher versions. Moderate inter-parent agreement and high one-year stability was found for the scale scores. Construct validity was satisfactory, although limited by high informant variance. The DBC scales showed good criterion-related validity, as indicated by significant mean differences between referred and non-referred children, and between children with and without a corresponding DSM-IV diagnosis. The reliability and validity of the revised DBC scales are satisfactory, and the checklist is recommended for clinical and research purposes

Assessing the Relative Performance of Nurses Using Data Envelopment Analysis Matrix (DEAM)

Assessing employee performance is one of the most important issue in healthcare management services. Because of their direct relationship with patients, nurses are also the most influential hospital staff who play a vital role in providing healthcare services. In this paper, a novel Data Envelopment Analysis Matrix (DEAM) approach is proposed for assessing the performance of nurses based on relative efficiency. The proposed model consists of five input variables (including type of employment, work experience, training hours, working hours and overtime hours) and eight output variables (the outputs are amount of hours each nurse spend on each of the eight activities including documentation, medical instructions, wound care and patient drainage, laboratory sampling, assessment and control care, follow-up and counseling and para-clinical measures, attendance during visiting and discharge suction) have been tested on 30 nurses from the heart department of a hospital in Iran. After determining the relative efficiency of each nurse based on the DEA model, the nurses’ performance were evaluated in a DEAM format. As results the nurses were divided into four groups; superstars, potential stars, those who are needed to be trained effectively and question marks. Finally, based on the proposed approach, we have drawn some recommendations to policy makers in order to improve and maintain the performance of each of these groups. The proposed approach provides a practical framework for hospital managers so that they can assess the relative efficiency of nurses, plan and take steps to improve the quality of healthcare delivery

Kansallinen allergiaohjelma 2008-2018 muutti asenteita ja vähensi sairastavuutta

Lähtökohdat : Allergiaohjelma 2008–2018 on kansallinen kansanterveysohjelma, jonka avulla välttö­strategia on käännetty sietostrategiaksi ja painotettu allergiaterveyttä. Raportoimme 10 vuoden tulokset.Menetelmät : Ohjelmalla oli kuusi tavoitetta, joiden toteuttamiseksi määriteltiin tehtävät, työkalut ja mittarit. Ohjelmaa toteutettiin kouluttamalla terveydenhuoltoa ja viestimällä väestölle.Tulokset : Astman ja allergisen nuhan esiintyvyys tasoittui asevelvollisissa ja Helsingin aikuisväestössä. Helsingin aikuisista astmaatikoista 41 % oli ollut vuoden 2016 kyselyä edeltäneen vuoden oireettomia (31 % 2006). Lasten allergiaruokavaliot vähenivät koko maassa noin puoleen. Työperäiset allergiset sairaudet vähenivät 45 %. Astman sairaalahoidon tarve puolittui, mutta päivystyskäynnit vähenivät oleellisesti vain lapsilla. Anafylaksia aiheutti aiempaa enemmän päivystyskäyntejä. Allergiasta ja astmasta aiheutuvat vuosittaiset suorat ja epäsuorat kustannukset vähenivät 200 miljoonaa euroa ­(30 %) verrattaessa vuosia 2007 ja 2018.Päätelmät : Allergian ja astman aiheuttama sairastavuus ja niistä koituvat kustannukset vähenivät merkittävästi. Haitat vähenivät aluksi nopeasti, myöhemmin hitaammin. Ammattilaiset ja suuri yleisö hyväksyivät uuden suunnan, jossa painottuivat sietokyky ja terveys allergiasta huolimatta. Tietoon perustuvat systemaattiset ohjelmat ovat vahva keino parantaa kansanterveyttä

Sequence of a complete chicken BG haplotype shows dynamic expansion and contraction of two gene lineages with particular expression patterns.

Many genes important in immunity are found as multigene families. The butyrophilin genes are members of the B7 family, playing diverse roles in co-regulation and perhaps in antigen presentation. In humans, a fixed number of butyrophilin genes are found in and around the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), and show striking association with particular autoimmune diseases. In chickens, BG genes encode homologues with somewhat different domain organisation. Only a few BG genes have been characterised, one involved in actin-myosin interaction in the intestinal brush border, and another implicated in resistance to viral diseases. We characterise all BG genes in B12 chickens, finding a multigene family organised as tandem repeats in the BG region outside the MHC, a single gene in the MHC (the BF-BL region), and another single gene on a different chromosome. There is a precise cell and tissue expression for each gene, but overall there are two kinds, those expressed by haemopoietic cells and those expressed in tissues (presumably non-haemopoietic cells), correlating with two different kinds of promoters and 5' untranslated regions (5'UTR). However, the multigene family in the BG region contains many hybrid genes, suggesting recombination and/or deletion as major evolutionary forces. We identify BG genes in the chicken whole genome shotgun sequence, as well as by comparison to other haplotypes by fibre fluorescence in situ hybridisation, confirming dynamic expansion and contraction within the BG region. Thus, the BG genes in chickens are undergoing much more rapid evolution compared to their homologues in mammals, for reasons yet to be understood.This is the final published version. It was originally published by PLOS in PLOS Genetics here: http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1004417

Assessing the queuing process using data envelopment analysis:an application in health centres

Queuing is one of the very important criteria for assessing the performance and efficiency of any service industry, including healthcare. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the most widely-used techniques for performance measurement in healthcare. However, no queue management application has been reported in the health-related DEA literature. Most of the studies regarding patient flow systems had the objective of improving an already existing Appointment System. The current study presents a novel application of DEA for assessing the queuing process at an Outpatients’ department of a large public hospital in a developing country where appointment systems do not exist. The main aim of the current study is to demonstrate the usefulness of DEA modelling in the evaluation of a queue system. The patient flow pathway considered for this study consists of two stages; consultation with a doctor and pharmacy. The DEA results indicated that waiting times and other related queuing variables included need considerable minimisation at both stages