97 research outputs found
Efficacy of shared decision making on treatment satisfaction for patients with first-admission schizophrenia: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
BACKGROUND: Shared decision making is a promising model for patient-centred medicine, resulting in better clinical outcomes overall. In the mental health field, interventions that consider the patient-centred perspective—such as patient quality of life, involvement in the treatment, treatment satisfaction, and working alliance—have increased and better clinical outcomes discovered for patients with schizophrenia. However, few studies have examined the efficacy of shared decision making for schizophrenia treatment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a shared decision making intervention compared to treatment as usual on patient satisfaction at discharge for first-admission patients with schizophrenia. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a randomised, parallel-group, two-arm, open-label, single-centre study currently being conducted in an acute psychiatric ward of Numazu Chuo Hospital, Japan. We are recruiting patients between 16 and 65 years old who are admitted to the ward with a diagnosis of schizophrenia without prior experience of psychiatric admission. Fifty-eight participants are being randomised into a shared decision making intervention group or a treatment as usual control group in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention program was developed based on a shared decision making model and is presented as a weekly course lasting the duration of the patients’ acute psychiatric ward stay. The primary outcome measure is patient satisfaction at discharge as assessed by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Due to the study’s nature, neither the patient nor staff can be blinded. DISCUSSION: This is the first randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of shared decision making for patients with early-treatment-stage schizophrenia. The intervention program in this study is innovative in that it includes both of the patient and staff who are involved in the treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT01869660
Development of a UV-transparent Lens Array for Enlarging the Effective Area of Multichannel SiPMs
We developed a UV-transparent lens array that can increase the photon
detection efficiency of a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array comprising of 64
pixels ( mm each) and 0.2-mm gaps. Through the plano-convex
spherical lens on each mm region, we showed that the loss of
photon detection efficiency due to the pixel gaps could be recovered as the
incident photons get concentrated on the sensitive regions of the SiPM array.
By using a prototype lens array, we achieved approximately 10%-30% relative
increase in photon detection efficiency in our target angles of incidence of
30-60 deg.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 5th International
Workshop on New Photon-Detectors (PD18
Interferometric Observations of the T Tauri Stars in the MBM 12 Cloud
We have carried out a millimeter interferometric continuum survey toward 7
YSOs in the MBM 12 cloud. Thermal emissions associated with 2 YSOs were
detected above the 3- level at 2.1 mm, and one also showed a 1.3 mm
thermal emission. Another object was marginally detected at 2.1 mm. Spectral
energy distributions of the YSOs are well fitted by a simple power-law disk
model. Masses of the circumstellar disks are estimated to be an order of 0.05
M_{\sun}. The circumstellar disks in the MBM 12 cloud have properties in
common with the disks in nearby star-forming regions, in terms of disk
parameters such as a disk mass, as well as an infrared excess.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter
Development of a SiPM Camera for a Schwarzschild-Couder Cherenkov Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
We present the development of a novel 11328 pixel silicon photomultiplier
(SiPM) camera for use with a ground-based Cherenkov telescope with
Schwarzschild-Couder optics as a possible medium-sized telescope for the
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The finely pixelated camera samples air-shower
images with more than twice the optical resolution of cameras that are used in
current Cherenkov telescopes. Advantages of the higher resolution will be a
better event reconstruction yielding improved background suppression and
angular resolution of the reconstructed gamma-ray events, which is crucial in
morphology studies of, for example, Galactic particle accelerators and the
search for gamma-ray halos around extragalactic sources. Packing such a large
number of pixels into an area of only half a square meter and having a fast
readout directly attached to the back of the sensors is a challenging task. For
the prototype camera development, SiPMs from Hamamatsu with through silicon via
(TSV) technology are used. We give a status report of the camera design and
highlight a number of technological advancements that made this development
possible.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic
Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions
at arXiv:1508.0589
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