Encouraging practitioners in infection prevention and control to publish: a cross-sectional survey

Aim: The aim of this cross-sectional survey was to determine the views of infection prevention and control practitioners (IPCPs) on publishing research. Methods: A convenience sample was obtained by approaching delegates at the 2015 Infection Prevention Society conference and data was captured via a hand-held electronic device. Findings: Of the 79 respondents most (83%) read Journal of Infection Prevention (JIP) and found it useful for informing their practice (72%). However, most (91%) had never published in JIP, and less than half (40%) published elsewhere. The main barrier to publication was not having work suitable for publication (38%). Support (37%), training in writing for publication (10%) and time (9%) were considered to be important facilitators in encouraging respondents to publish. Discussion: Strategies that support IPCPs in developing their writing skills may encourage more IPCPs to disseminate evidence to support best practice by publishing their work in peer reviewed journals

Prognostics of transformer paper insulation using statistical particle filtering of on-line data

Prognostics of transformer remaining life can be achieved through a statistical technique called particle filtering, which gives a more accurate prediction than standard methods by quantifying sources of uncertainty

A physically based approach for the estimation of root-zone soil moisture from surface measurements

Abstract. In the present work, we developed a new formulation for the estimation of the soil moisture in the root zone based on the measured value of soil moisture at the surface. It was derived from a simplified soil water balance equation for semiarid environments that provides a closed form of the relationship between the root zone and the surface soil moisture with a limited number of physically consistent parameters. The method sheds lights on the mentioned relationship with possible applications in the use of satellite remote sensing retrievals of soil moisture. The proposed approach was used on soil moisture measurements taken from the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) and the Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) databases. The AMMA network was designed with the aim to monitor three so-called mesoscale sites (super sites) located in Benin, Mali, and Niger using point measurements at different locations. Thereafter the new formulation was tested on three additional stations of SCAN in the state of New Mexico (US). Both databases are ideal for the application of such method, because they provide a good description of the soil moisture dynamics at the surface and the root zone using probes installed at different depths. The model was first applied with parameters assigned based on the physical characteristics of several sites. These results highlighted the potential of the methodology, providing a good description of the root-zone soil moisture. In the second part of the paper, the model performances were compared with those of the well-known exponential filter. Results show that this new approach provides good performances after calibration with a set of parameters consistent with the physical characteristics of the investigated areas. The limited number of parameters and their physical interpretation makes the procedure appealing for further applications to other regions

In Situ Characterisation of Permanent Magnetic Quadrupoles for focussing proton beams

High intensity laser driven proton beams are at present receiving much attention. The reasons for this are many but high on the list is the potential to produce compact accelerators. However two of the limitations of this technology is that unlike conventional nuclear RF accelerators lasers produce diverging beams with an exponential energy distribution. A number of different approaches have been attempted to monochromise these beams but it has become obvious that magnetic spectrometer technology developed over many years by nuclear physicists to transport and focus proton beams could play an important role for this purpose. This paper deals with the design and characterisation of a magnetic quadrupole system which will attempt to focus and transport laser-accelerated proton beams.Comment: 20 pages, 42 figure

tvorba vektorskih mezona i pridružene stranosti pomoću snopa linearno polariziranih fotona u JLabu

The set of experiments forming the g8a run took place in the summer of 2001 in Hall B of Jefferson Lab. The g8a run was the commissioning experiment for the linearly polarised photon beam at CLAS. The aim of these experiments is to improve the understanding of the underlying symmetry of the quark degrees of freedom in the nucleon, the nature of the parity exchange between the incident photon and the target nucleon, and the mechanism of associated strangeness production in electromagnetic reactions. A beam of tagged and collimated linearly polarised photons (energy range 1.8−2.2 GeV) in conjunction with the large solid angle coverage of CLAS make possible the extraction of the differential cross-sections and polarisation observables for the photoproduction of vector mesons and kaons. The reaction channels −→γ p → ρ 0p → π +π −p and −→γ p → K+Λ 0 → K+π −p are under investigation to search for possibly missing nucleon resonances. An overview of the experiment and preliminary results on the measurement of the photon asymmetries of the aforementioned reactions are presented.Mjerenje g8a izveli smo u ljeto 2001 u Halli B u JLabu. To je mjerenje ujedno bilo puštanje u pogon linearno polariziranog snopa kod uređaja CLAS. Cilj tih mjerenja bio je unapređenje našeg shvaćanja simetrije koja je osnova kvarkovskih stupnjeva slobode u nukleonu, značajki izmjene parnosti između fotona i nukleona u meti i mehanizma tvorbe pridružene stranosti u elektromagnetskim reakcijama. Snop kolimiranih i označenih linearno polariziranih fotona (energije 1.8 − 2.2 GeV), zajedno s velikim prostornim kutom CLASa, omogućili su određivanje diferencijalnih udarnih presjeka i polarizacijskih veličina za fototvorbu vektorskih mezona i kaona. Istraživali smo reakcijske kanale →γ p → ρ 0p → π +π −p i →γ p → K+Λ 0 → K+π −p radi mogućeg nalaženja novih nukleonskih rezonancija. Dajemo opis mjerenja i prethodne ishode za fotonsku asimetriju navedenih reakcija

Maternal ABO Phenotype as a Predictive Factor for Pregnancy Complications Related to Prematurity

Objective: The ABO blood types are associated with cancers, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes in adult males and females. Associations of ABO blood type and adverse pregnancy outcomes have not been extensively studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship with ABO blood groups and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes contributing to premature birth.Study design: Data on ABO phenotypes and pregnancy outcomes were collected from the medical records of 1,462 premature infants (22-34 weeks). Adverse pregnancy outcomes that were studied in relation to maternal blood type included gestational hypertension (GHTN), preeclampsia (PREE), chorioamnionitis (CA), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)Results: 1,462 charts of mothers with premature infants (22-34 weeks) were studied measuring the relative risk by using standardized statistical software (SPSS).Our study group had 46 mothers with GHTN, 405 with PREE, 282 with CA, 504 with PPROM, and 94 with IUGR. A+ Caucasian mothers had a 28% increased risk of developing preeclampsia (RR= 1.28 (1.09-1.52); 95% CI= .003). B mothers are ata 46% decreased risk of developing chorioamnionitis versus all other blood groups (RR= 0.54, 95% CI= 0.36-0.81; P= .003). Conversely, O+ Caucasian mothers were 2.53 times more likely to develop chorioamnionitis compared to all other blood types (RR=2.53, 95% CI= 1.09-5.88; P= .031).Conclusions: Maternal ABO phenotype significantly influences the incidence of preeclampsia and chorioamnionitis. Pregnancy is a unique antigen-antibody phenomenon with the fetus serving as an antigen to the mother. We postulate that blood group antigen expression at the endothelial level may influence maternal disease states