Toward a Comprehensive Model of Snow Crystal Growth: 4. Measurements of Diffusion-limited Growth at -15 C

We present measurements of the diffusion-limited growth of ice crystals from water vapor at different supersaturation levels in air at a temperature of -15 C. Starting with thin, c-axis ice needle crystals, the subsequent growth morphologies ranged from blocky structures on the needle tips (at low supersaturation) to thin faceted plates on the needle tips (at high supersaturation). We successfully modeled the experimental data, reproducing both growth rates and growth morphologies, using a cellular-automata method that yields faceted crystalline structures in diffusion-limited growth. From this quantitative analysis of well-controlled experimental measurements, we were able to extract information about the attachment coefficients governing ice growth under different circumstances. The results strongly support previous work indicating that the attachment coefficient on the prism surface is a function of the width of the prism facet. Including this behavior, we created a comprehensive model at -15 C that explains all the experimental data. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a kinetic model that reproduces a range of diffusion-limited ice growth behaviors as a function of supersaturation

Gaps in continuity of care at the interface between primary care and specialized care: general practitioners’ experiences and expectations

Introduction: Discontinuity of care at the interface between inpatient and outpatient management can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Appropriate communication and flow of information is indispensable to ensure continuity of care. Consequently, the aim of this study was to assess general practitioners’ (GPs) experiences of cooperation with a university hospital, as well as their needs and obvious barriers regarding an optimized information flow. Methods: A qualitative study was performed. In March 2011, 300 GPs from the Zurich Canton were invited to participate in two focus group meetings. Based on a review of the literature, an interview guide was created addressing two main issues. In the first part, experiences and barriers regarding cooperation with the university were explored. In the second part, needs and suggestions to improve cooperation were addressed. Results: Fifteen GPs participated in two focus groups. GPs complained that they have often not been adequately informed about ongoing treatments or appointments for their patients. GPs feel responsible for the continuity of care and wish to be more involved, especially in long-term treatment decisions or at the end of life. By not involving them, they stated, important information concerning patients’ medical history and social setting was not taken into account. Improvements are also required at discharge: GPs often do not receive important information about treatments in the hospital and further requirements within a reasonable time. Conclusion: Exchange of information between the hospital and the GP at admission and discharge is essential. However, at present, involvement during hospitalization of the patient is lacking. This includes the exchange of information after an unexpected clinical procedure and input from GPs when difficult clinical decisions are made, such as at the beginning or termination of long-term therapies

Tax Sheltering of Income: Passive Losses Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986

It is abundantly clear to those in the press and on Capitol Hill that the provisions of the new Tax Reform Act of 19862 will constitute the death knell for tax shelters. The text of the Congressional Record and pages of business, financial journals and newspapers for months prior to the Act\u27s enactment were filled with commentary as to this doomsday effect. However, a prudent reviewer of the actual tax-sheltering provisions of the Act would be far less certain in his estimation of their overall and lasting effect. Even though the so called elimination of tax shelters has been hailed in many circles as a victory, one might want to question first, whether the Tax Reform Act of 1986 will achieve total elimination of tax shelters, and, if so, whether pursuant to public policy the Act will produce an irrefutably desirable end

Holomorphic functions on complex Banach lattices

We introduce and study the algebraic, analytic and lattice properties of regular homogeneous polynomials and holomorphic functions on complex Banach lattices. We show that the theory of power series with regular terms is closer to the theory of functions of several complex variables than the theory of holomorphic functions on Banach spaces. We extend the concept of the Bohr radius to Banach lattices and show that it provides us with a lower bound for the ratio between the radius of regular convergence and the radius of convergence of a regular holomorphic function. This allows us to show that the radius of regular convergence coincides with the radius of convergence for holomorphic functions on finite dimensional spaces and orthogonally additive holomorphic functions but that these radii can be radically different on $\ell_p$ for $p>1$

What’s in a username? Finding local health departments on Twitter

Social media platforms such as Twitter may be useful for local health departments (LHDs) in providing the essential service of educating and informing constituents.1 However, health departments have relatively few Twitter followers overall.1 One of the challenges that may be associated with following LHDs on Twitter is knowing how to find an LHD Twitter feed. With no suggested or required conventions for LHDs adopting social media, practitioners are left to independently develop their name and description, resulting in much variety. This report examines the names and descriptions for LHDs using Twitter and uses the Twitter people search function to identify which health departments can be found by searching for the health department name. Finally, we examine the relationship between being found through the Twitter people search and the number of followers for an LHD. We conclude with suggested LHD naming, description, and use practices for Twitter

Fidelity protocol for the Action Success Knowledge (ASK) trial: A psychosocial intervention administered by speech and language therapists to prevent depression in people with post-stroke aphasia

Introduction: Treatment fidelity is a complex, multifaceted evaluative process which refers to whether a studied intervention was delivered as intended. Monitoring and enhancing fidelity is one recommendation of the TiDIER (Template for Intervention Description and Replication) checklist, as fidelity can inform interpretation and conclusions drawn about treatment effects. Despite the methodological and translational benefits, fidelity strategies have been used inconsistently within health behaviour intervention studies; in particular, within aphasia intervention studies, reporting of fidelity remains relatively rare. This paper describes the development of a fidelity protocol for the Action Success Knowledge (ASK) study, a current cluster randomised trial investigating an early mood intervention for people with aphasia (a language disability caused by stroke). Methods and analysis: A novel fidelity protocol and tool was developed to monitor and enhance fidelity within the two arms (experimental treatment and attention control) of the ASK study. The ASK fidelity protocol was developed based on the National Institutes of Health Behaviour Change Consortium fidelity framework. Ethics and dissemination: The study protocol was approved by the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee in Queensland, Australia under the National Mutual Acceptance scheme of multicentre human research projects. Specific ethics approval was obtained for those participating sites who were not under the National Mutual Agreement at the time of application. The monitoring and ongoing conduct of the research project is in line with requirements under the National Mutual Acceptance. On completion of the trial, findings from the fidelity reviews will be disseminated via publications and conference presentations. Trial registration number ACTRN12614000979651