655 research outputs found
Six-state review
New England states are facing their worst fiscal crises in at least a decade. General revenues, especially those from the personal income tax, fell sharply in every New England state except New Hampshire in FY2002. All six states closed the fiscal year with deficits. Although preliminary reports suggest that FY2003 revenue collections in some states may be up from last year, deficits are still expected throughout the region. In response, all six states are cutting expenditures, drawing down reserve accounts, and/or raising taxes and fees.Deficit financing - New England ; Economic conditions - New England
The safety climate in primary care (SAP-C) study: study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study
BACKGROUND: Research on patient safety has focused largely on secondary care settings, and there is a dearth of knowledge relating to safety culture or climate, and safety climate improvement strategies, in the context of primary care. This is problematic given the high rates of usage of primary care services and the myriad of opportunities for clinical errors daily. The current research programme aimed to assess the effectiveness of an intervention derived from the Scottish Patient Safety Programme in Primary Care. The intervention consists of safety climate measurement and feedback and patient chart audit using the trigger review method. The purpose of this paper is to describe the background to this research and to present the methodology of this feasibility study in preparation for a future definitive RCT. METHODS: The SAP-C study is a feasibility study employing a randomised controlled pretest-posttest design that will be conducted in 10 general practices in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Five practices will receive the safety climate intervention over a 9-month period. The five practices in the control group will continue care as usual but will complete the GP-SafeQuest safety climate questionnaire at baseline (month 1) and at the terminus of the intervention (month 9). The outcomes of the study include process evaluation metrics (i.e. rates of participant recruitment and retention, rates of completion of safety climate measures, qualitative data regarding participantsâ perceptions of the interventionâs potential efficacy, acceptability, and sustainability), patient safety culture in intervention and control group practices at posttest, and instances of undetected patient harm identified through patient chart audit using the trigger review method. DISCUSSION: The planned study investigates an intervention to improve safety climate in Irish primary care settings. The resulting data may inform our knowledge of the frequency of undetected patient safety incidents in primary care, may contribute to improved patient safety practices in primary care settings, and may inform future research on patient safety improvement initiatives. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40814-016-0096-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
The AzTEC mm-Wavelength Camera
AzTEC is a mm-wavelength bolometric camera utilizing 144 silicon nitride
micromesh detectors. Herein we describe the AzTEC instrument architecture and
its use as an astronomical instrument. We report on several performance metrics
measured during a three month observing campaign at the James Clerk Maxwell
Telescope, and conclude with our plans for AzTEC as a facility instrument on
the Large Millimeter Telescope.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notice
LLiST - a new star tracker camera for tip-tilt correction at IOTA
The tip-tilt correction system at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA)
has been upgraded with a new star tracker camera. The camera features a
backside-illuminated CCD chip offering doubled overall quantum efficiency and a
four times higher system gain compared to the previous system. Tests carried
out to characterize the new system showed a higher system gain with a lower
read-out noise electron level. Shorter read-out cycle times now allow to
compensate tip-tilt fluctuations so that their error imposed on visibility
measurements becomes comparable to, and even smaller than, that of higher-order
aberrations.Comment: To be published in "New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry", W. A.
Traub, ed., SPIE Proceedings Series, Vol. 5491, paper [5491-126]; 10 pages, 6
figures, 1 table; Latex spie class, uses packages graphicx and url; bib style
spiebib; keywords: interferometry, tip-tilt correctio
YREC: The Yale Rotating Stellar Evolution Code
The stellar evolution code YREC is outlined with emphasis on its applications
to helio- and asteroseismology. The procedure for calculating calibrated solar
and stellar models is described. Other features of the code such as a non-local
treatment of convective core overshoot, and the implementation of a
parametrized description of turbulence in stellar models, are considered in
some detail. The code has been extensively used for other astrophysical
applications, some of which are briefly mentioned at the end of the paper.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, ApSS accepte
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Understanding the links between perceiving gratitude and romantic relationship satisfaction using an accuracy and bias framework
Perceiving a partnerâs gratitude has several benefits for romantic relationships. We aimed to better understand these associations by decomposing perceptions into accuracy and bias. Specifically, we examined whether accuracy and bias in perceiving a partnerâs experience (Study 1: Ndyads= 205) and expression (Study 2: Ndyads= 309) of gratitude were associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. Using the Truth and Bias Model of Judgment, we found that perceivers generally underestimated their partnerâs gratitude, and lower perceptions of gratitude were related to lower perceiver satisfaction. Perceivers reported greater satisfaction when they assumed their partnerâs gratitude was similar to their own. Partners reported greater satisfaction when perceivers accurately gauged their partnersâ gratitude experience (but not expression) and lower satisfaction when perceivers underestimated their gratitude expression (but not experience). Overall, by decomposing gratitude perceptions into accuracy and bias, we provide insight into how these components differentially relate to relationship satisfaction
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