592 research outputs found
Children with Cancer and Blood Diseases Experience Positive Physical and Psychological Effects from Massage Therapy
Background: Previous research has reported positive effects of massage therapy (MT) on premature infants, children with asthma, arthritis and other illnesses. Although significant effects have been demonstrated with the use of MT with children, research regarding children with cancer and blood disease is needed. Purpose: This study measured the physical and psychological effects of MT on pediatric oncology and hematology patients. The study hypotheses tested the effects MT for physical and psychological symptom relief. Setting: Cancer Center, Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Research Design: Randomized non-blinded prospective study. Measures of physical health and mental wellbeing were completed before, during, and after four sessions were implemented. Descriptive statistics and 2 (treatment) X 2 (time) one-way ANOVAs were used to analyze data. Participants: Thirty children with cancer and blood disease, ages 6 months to 17 years old. Intervention: Treatment group received 20 minute sessions of Swedish MT once a day for approximately 4 days (inpatient) or once a week for approximately four weeks (outpatient) vs. no MT for the control group. Results: Treatment group showed significant improvement in both psychological stress [STAI-C: State (F [1, 28] = 24.63, p < .001), Trait (F [1, 28] = 12.83, p < .001) and emotional state (F [1, 28] = 157.79, p < .001)], physical measures [muscle soreness (F [1, 28] = 148.20,
Polarization states of polydomain epitaxial Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 thin films and their dielectric properties
Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of polydomain (twinned)
single-crystal Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 thin films are described with the aid of a
nonlinear thermodynamic theory, which has been developed recently for epitaxial
ferroelectric films with dense laminar domain structures. For Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3
(PZT) films with compositions x = 0.9, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, and 0.4, the "misfit
strain-temperature" phase diagrams are calculated and compared with each other.
It is found that the equilibrium diagrams of PZT films with x > 0.7 are similar
to the diagram of PbTiO3 films. They consist of only four different stability
ranges, which correspond to the paraelectric phase, single-domain tetragonal
ferroelectric phase, and two pseudo-tetragonal domain patterns. In contrast, at
x = 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6, the equilibrium diagram displays a rich variety of
stable polarization states, involving at least one monoclinic polydomain state.
Using the developed phase diagrams, the mean out-of-plane polarization of a
poled PZT film is calculated as a function of the misfit strain and
composition. Theoretical results are compared with the measured remanent
polarizations of PZT films grown on SrTiO3. Dependence of the out-of-plane
dielectric response of PZT films on the misfit strain in the heterostructure is
also reported.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure
Technology about me without me: An examination of the relationship between patient-facing technology and patient experience
To appreciate the role of electronic health records (EHRs) in achieving the goals of patient-centered care, scholars have focused primarily on the influence of EHR capabilities on clinical providers’ behaviors. The objective of this study is to examine the degree to which patient-facing technology (P-Tech) in U.S. hospital EHRs are associated with patient evaluations of their care experience. A cross-sectional OLS regression is executed to examine the relationship between P-Tech and patient experience on a sample of U.S. hospitals (n=1,168) compiled via data from CMS, the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Survey (2014), and the AHA Health Information Technology supplement (2014). Findings confirm a positive relationship between P-Tech and overall ratings of patient experience. In addition, the results find that P-Tech capabilities correspond to various communication pathways (Exchanging Information, Self-Management, and Administrative Actions) outlined by Street et al.1 The findings show an association between hospitals offering patient-facing EHR technologies that enable exchange of information and better patient evaluations of their care experience. As care delivery continues to explore the advancement of telehealth and telecare services, highlighting patient perspectives and appreciating that patients perceive face-to-face interactions as a complement to digital interactions will be key to the digital transformation of healthcare.
Experience Framework
This article is associated with the Innovation & Technology lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this len
Patient Experience: The field and future
In an effort to understand the progress and evolution of the field, a self-examination study has been administered to assess contributions to the core knowledge base in the field and to assess the degree to which articles published in Patient Experience Journal (PXJ) addressed the core elements of patient experience outlined in the definition of patient experience as offered by The Beryl Institute. The purpose of this examination is to understand PXJ’s position as a central voice for patient experience scholarship, practice, and knowledge exchange. The findings suggest that the operating definition of the field continues to be suitable and appropriate to the scope of practice and to the knowledge base in patient experience and reinforce that patient experience scholars and practitioners share a common understanding of the patient experience field. The article offers a call to action for patient experience practitioners, scholars, and educators and acknowledges that for as much as we have explored, we still do not know all that we can about patient experience. While reinforcing its core ideas, the results suggest that new themes germane to the patient experience await beyond the horizon
Geometry of Information Integration
Information geometry is used to quantify the amount of information
integration within multiple terminals of a causal dynamical system. Integrated
information quantifies how much information is lost when a system is split into
parts and information transmission between the parts is removed. Multiple
measures have been proposed as a measure of integrated information. Here, we
analyze four of the previously proposed measures and elucidate their relations
from a viewpoint of information geometry. Two of them use dually flat manifolds
and the other two use curved manifolds to define a split model. We show that
there are hierarchical structures among the measures. We provide explicit
expressions of these measures
Data Exploration for Bisociative Knowledge Discovery: A Brief Overview of Tools and Evaluation Methods
Thermodynamics of nanodomain formation and breakdown in Scanning Probe Microscopy: Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire approach
Thermodynamics of tip-induced nanodomain formation in scanning probe
microscopy of ferroelectric films and crystals is studied using the
Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenological approach. The local redistribution
of polarization induced by the biased probe apex is analyzed including the
effects of polarization gradients, field dependence of dielectric properties,
intrinsic domain wall width, and film thickness. The polarization distribution
inside subcritical nucleus of the domain preceding the nucleation event is very
smooth and localized below the probe, and the electrostatic field distribution
is dominated by the tip. In contrast, polarization distribution inside the
stable domain is rectangular-like, and the associated electrostatic fields
clearly illustrate the presence of tip-induced and depolarization field
components. The calculated coercive biases of domain formation are in a good
agreement with available experimental results for typical ferroelectric
materials. The microscopic origin of the observed domain tip elongation in the
region where the probe electric field is much smaller than the intrinsic
coercive field is the positive depolarization field in front of the moving
counter domain wall. For infinitely thin domain walls local domain breakdown
through the sample depth appears. The results obtained here are complementary
to the Landauer-Molotskii energetic approach.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figures, suplementary attached, to be submitted to Phys.
Rev.
Superparaelectric phase in the ensemble of non-interacting ferroelectric nanoparticles
For the first time we predict the conditions of superparaelectric phase
appearance in the ensemble of non-interacting spherical ferroelectric
nanoparticles. The superparaelectricity in nanoparticle was defined by analogy
with superparamagnetism, obtained earlier in small nanoparticles made of
paramagnetic material. Calculations of correlation radius, energetic barriers
of polarization reorientation and polarization response to external electric
field, were performed within Landau-Ginzburg phenomenological approach for
perovskites Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, BiFeO3 and uniaxial ferroelectrics rochelle salt and
triglycine sulfate.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, 3 Appendices, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Thermodynamic theory of epitaxial ferroelectric thin films with dense domain structures
A Landau-Ginsburg-Devonshire-type nonlinear phenomenological theory is
presented, which enables the thermodynamic description of dense laminar
polydomain states in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films. The theory explicitly
takes into account the mechanical substrate effect on the polarizations and
lattice strains in dissimilar elastic domains (twins). Numerical calculations
are performed for PbTiO3 and BaTiO3 films grown on (001)-oriented cubic
substrates. The "misfit strain-temperature" phase diagrams are developed for
these films, showing stability ranges of various possible polydomain and
single-domain states. Three types of polarization instabilities are revealed
for polydomain epitaxial ferroelectric films, which may lead to the formation
of new polydomain states forbidden in bulk crystals. The total dielectric and
piezoelectric small-signal responses of polydomain films are calculated,
resulting from both the volume and domain-wall contributions. For BaTiO3 films,
strong dielectric anomalies are predicted at room temperature near special
values of the misfit strain.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure
New Symmetries in Crystals and Handed Structures
For over a century, the structure of materials has been described by a
combination of rotations, rotation-inversions and translational symmetries. By
recognizing the reversal of static structural rotations between clockwise and
counterclockwise directions as a distinct symmetry operation, here we show that
there are many more structural symmetries than are currently recognized in
right- or left-handed handed helices, spirals, and in antidistorted structures
composed equally of rotations of both handedness. For example, though a helix
or spiral cannot possess conventional mirror or inversion symmetries, they can
possess them in combination with the rotation reversal symmetry. Similarly, we
show that many antidistorted perovskites possess twice the number of symmetry
elements as conventionally identified. These new symmetries predict new forms
for "roto" properties that relate to static rotations, such as rotoelectricity,
piezorotation, and rotomagnetism. They also enable symmetry-based search for
new phenomena, such as multiferroicity involving a coupling of spins, electric
polarization and static rotations. This work is relevant to structure-property
relationships in all material structures with static rotations such as
minerals, polymers, proteins, and engineered structures.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures, 3 Tables; Fig. 2b has error
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