Use of thermodynamic properties of metal-gas systems as low-pressure standards

Modified version of Sievert's apparatus accurately calibrates low pressure measuring instruments. Metal-gas system is composed of hydrogen in two-phase equilibrium with erbium to obtain reproducible hydrogen pressures

A study of metal oxygen and metal nitrogen systems for use as reduced pressure standards

Metal-oxygen and metal-nitrogen systems for use as reduced pressure standards using Sieverts apparatu

Ion sense of polarization of the electromagnetic wave field in the electron whistler frequency band

International audienceIt is shown that the left-hand (or ion-type) sense of polarization can appear in the field interference pattern of two plane electron whistler waves. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the ion-type polarized wave electric fields can be accompanied by the presence at the same observation point of electron-type polarized wave magnetic fields. The registration of ion-type polarized fields with frequencies between the highest ion gyrofrequency and the electron gyrofrequency in a cold, overdense plasma is a sufficient indication for the existence of an interference wave pattern, which can typically occur near artificial or natural reflecting magnetospheric plasma regions, inside waveguides (as in helicon discharges, for example), in fields resonantly emitted by beams of charged particles or, in principle, in some self-sustained, nonlinear wave field structures. A comparison with the conventional spectral matrix data processing approach is also presented in order to facilitate the calculations of the analyzed polarization parameters

Implementation and impact of pediatric antimicrobial stewardship programs: a systematic scoping review.

Background: Antibiotics are the most common medicines prescribed to children in hospitals and the community, with a high proportion of potentially inappropriate use. Antibiotic misuse increases the risk of toxicity, raises healthcare costs, and selection of resistance. The primary aim of this systematic review is to summarize the current state of evidence of the implementation and outcomes of pediatric antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) globally. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched to identify studies reporting on ASP in children aged 0-18 years and conducted in outpatient or in-hospital settings. Three investigators independently reviewed identified articles for inclusion and extracted relevant data. Results: Of the 41,916 studies screened, 113 were eligible for inclusion in this study. Most of the studies originated in the USA (52.2%), while a minority were conducted in Europe (24.7%) or Asia (17.7%). Seventy-four (65.5%) studies used a before-and-after design, and sixteen (14.1%) were randomized trials. The majority (81.4%) described in-hospital ASPs with half of interventions in mixed pediatric wards and ten (8.8%) in emergency departments. Only sixteen (14.1%) studies focused on the costs of ASPs. Almost all the studies (79.6%) showed a significant reduction in inappropriate prescriptions. Compliance after ASP implementation increased. Sixteen of the included studies quantified cost savings related to the intervention with most of the decreases due to lower rates of drug administration. Seven studies showed an increased susceptibility of the bacteria analysed with a decrease in extended spectrum beta-lactamase producers E. coli and K. pneumoniae; a reduction in the rate of P. aeruginosa carbapenem resistance subsequent to an observed reduction in the rate of antimicrobial days of therapy; and, in two studies set in outpatient setting, an increase in erythromycin-sensitive S. pyogenes following a reduction in the use of macrolides. Conclusions: Pediatric ASPs have a significant impact on the reduction of targeted and empiric antibiotic use, healthcare costs, and antimicrobial resistance in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Pediatric ASPs are now widely implemented in the USA, but considerable further adaptation is required to facilitate their uptake in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa

The RHIC Zero Degree Calorimeter

High Energy collisions of nuclei usually lead to the emission of evaporation neutrons from both ``beam'' and ``target'' nuclei. At the RHIC heavy ion collider with 100GeV/u beam energy, evaporation neutrons diverge by less than $~2$ milliradians from the beam axis Neutral beam fragments can be detected downstream of RHIC ion collisions (and a large aperture Accelerator dipole magnet) if $\theta\leq$ 4 mr but charged fragments in the same angular range are usually too close to the beam trajectory. In this 'zero degree' region produced particles and other secondaries deposit negligible energy when compared with that of beam fragmentation neutrons. The purpose of the RHIC zero degree calorimeters (ZDC's) is to detect neutrons emitted within this cone along both beam directions and measure their total energy (from which we calculate multiplicity). The ZDC coincidence of the 2 beam directions is a minimal bias selection of heavy ion collisions. This makes it useful as an event trigger and a luminosity monitor\cite{baltz} and for this reason we built identical detectors for all 4 RHIC experiments. The neutron multiplicity is also known to be correlated with event geometry \cite{appel} and will be used to measure collision centrality in mutual beam int eractions.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure

Poisson equation and self-consistent periodical Anderson model

We show that the formally exact expression for the free energy (with a non-relativistic Hamiltonian) for the correlated metal generates the Poisson equation within the saddle-point approximation for the electric potential, where the charge density automatically includes correlations. In this approximation the problem is reduced to the self-consistent periodical Anderson model (SCPAM). The parameter of the mixing interaction in this formulation have to be found self-consistently together with the correlated charge density. The factors, calculated by Irkhin, for the mixing interaction, which reflect the structure of the many-electron states of the \f-ion involved, arise automatically in this formulation and are quite sensitive to the specific element we are interested in. We also discuss the definitions of the mixing interaction for the mapping from ab initio to model calculations.Comment: 25 pages, no figure

Overregulation of Health Care: Musings on Disruptive Innovation Theory

Disruptive innovation theory provides one lens through which to describe how regulations may stifle innovation and increase costs. Basing their discussion on this theory, Curtis and Schulman consider some of the effects that regulatory controls may have on innovation in the health sector

Development and evaluation of deep learning algorithms for assessment of acute burns and the need for surgery

Assessment of burn extent and depth are critical and require very specialized diagnosis. Automated image-based algorithms could assist in performing wound detection and classification. We aimed to develop two deep-learning algorithms that respectively identify burns, and classify whether they require surgery. An additional aim assessed the performances in different Fitzpatrick skin types. Annotated burn (n = 1105) and background (n = 536) images were collected. Using a commercially available platform for deep learning algorithms, two models were trained and validated on 70% of the images and tested on the remaining 30%. Accuracy was measured for each image using the percentage of wound area correctly identified and F1 scores for the wound identifier; and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) curve, sensitivity, and specificity for the wound classifier. The wound identifier algorithm detected an average of 87.2% of the wound areas accurately in the test set. For the wound classifier algorithm, the AUC was 0.885. The wound identifier algorithm was more accurate in patients with darker skin types; the wound classifier was more accurate in patients with lighter skin types. To conclude, image-based algorithms can support the assessment of acute burns with relatively good accuracy although larger and different datasets are needed.Peer reviewe

Catalytic Asymmetric Cross-Couplings of Racemic α-Bromoketones with Arylzinc Reagents

Nickel box : The first catalytic asymmetric method for cross‐coupling arylzinc reagents with α‐bromoketones has been developed (see scheme). This stereoconvergent carbon–carbon bond‐forming process occurs under unusually mild conditions and without activators, thereby allowing the generation of potentially labile tertiary stereocenters

Catalytic Asymmetric Cross-Couplings of Racemic α-Bromoketones with Arylzinc Reagents

Nickel box : The first catalytic asymmetric method for cross‐coupling arylzinc reagents with α‐bromoketones has been developed (see scheme). This stereoconvergent carbon–carbon bond‐forming process occurs under unusually mild conditions and without activators, thereby allowing the generation of potentially labile tertiary stereocenters