21,182 research outputs found
Process characteristics and design methods for a 300 deg quad OP amp
The results of process characterization, circuit design, and reliability studies for the development of a quad OP amplifier intended for use up to 300 C are presented. A dielectrically isolated complementary vertical bipolar process was chosen to fabricate the amplifier in order to eliminate isolation leakage and the possibility of latch up. Characterization of NPN and PNP junctions showed them to be suitable for use up to 300 C. Interconnect reliability was predicted to be greater than four years mean time between failure. Parasitic MOS formation was eliminated by isolation of each device
New electrical plethysmograph monitors cardiac output
Four-electrode impedance plethysmograph measures ventricular stroke volume of cardiac output of humans. The instrument is automatic, operates with only one recording channel, and minimizes patient discomfort
Towards an interoperable healthcare information infrastructure - working from the bottom up
Historically, the healthcare system has not made effective use of information technology. On the face of things, it would seem to provide a natural and richly varied domain in which to target benefit from IT solutions. But history shows that it is one of the most difficult domains in which to bring them to fruition. This paper provides an overview of the changing context and information requirements of healthcare that help to explain these characteristics.First and foremost, the disciplines and professions that healthcare encompasses have immense complexity and diversity to deal with, in structuring knowledge about what medicine and healthcare are, how they function, and what differentiates good practice and good performance. The need to maintain macro-economic stability of the health service, faced with this and many other uncertainties, means that management bottom lines predominate over choices and decisions that have to be made within everyday individual patient services. Individual practice and care, the bedrock of healthcare, is, for this and other reasons, more and more subject to professional and managerial control and regulation.One characteristic of organisations shown to be good at making effective use of IT is their capacity to devolve decisions within the organisation to where they can be best made, for the purpose of meeting their customers' needs. IT should, in this context, contribute as an enabler and not as an enforcer of good information services. The information infrastructure must work effectively, both top down and bottom up, to accommodate these countervailing pressures. This issue is explored in the context of infrastructure to support electronic health records.Because of the diverse and changing requirements of the huge healthcare sector, and the need to sustain health records over many decades, standardised systems must concentrate on doing the easier things well and as simply as possible, while accommodating immense diversity of requirements and practice. The manner in which the healthcare information infrastructure can be formulated and implemented to meet useful practical goals is explored, in the context of two case studies of research in CHIME at UCL and their user communities.Healthcare has severe problems both as a provider of information and as a purchaser of information systems. This has an impact on both its customer and its supplier relationships. Healthcare needs to become a better purchaser, more aware and realistic about what technology can and cannot do and where research is needed. Industry needs a greater awareness of the complexity of the healthcare domain, and the subtle ways in which information is part of the basic contract between healthcare professionals and patients, and the trust and understanding that must exist between them. It is an ideal domain for deeper collaboration between academic institutions and industry
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Evaluating candidate reactions to selection practices using organisational justice theory
Objectives: This study aimed to examine candidate reactions to selection practices in postgraduate medical training using organisational justice theory.
Methods: We carried out three independent cross-sectional studies using samples from three consecutive annual recruitment rounds. Data were gathered from candidates applying for entry into UK general practice (GP) training during 2007, 2008 and 2009. Participants completed an evaluation questionnaire immediately after the short-listing stage and after the selection centre (interview) stage. Participants were doctors applying for GP training in the UK. Main outcome measures were participantsā evaluations of the selection methods and perceptions of the overall fairness of each selection stage (short-listing and selection centre).
Results: A total of 23 855 evaluation questionnaires were completed (6893 in 2007, 10 497 in 2008 and 6465 in 2009). Absolute levels of perceptions of fairness of all the selection methods at both the short-listing and selection centre stages were consistently high over the 3 years. Similarly, all selection methods were considered to be job-related by candidates. However, in general, candidates considered the selection centre stage to be significantly fairer than the short-listing stage. Of all the selection methods, the simulated patient consultation completed at the selection centre stage was rated as the most job-relevant.
Conclusions: This is the first study to use a model of organisational justice theory to evaluate candidate reactions during selection into postgraduate specialty training. The high-fidelity selection methods are consistently viewed as more job-relevant and fairer by candidates. This has important implications for the design of recruitment systems for all specialties and, potentially, for medical school admissions. Using this approach, recruiters can systematically compare perceptions of the fairness and job relevance of various selection methods
Search for Lorentz Invariance and CPT Violation with the MINOS Far Detector
We searched for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS far detector neutrino rate. Such a signal would be
a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as described by the standard-model extension framework. It
also would be the first detection of a perturbative effect to conventional neutrino mass oscillations. We
found no evidence for this sidereal signature, and the upper limits placed on the magnitudes of the Lorentz
and CPT violating coefficients describing the theory are an improvement by factors of 20ā510 over the
current best limits found by using the MINOS near detector
Improved Measurement of Muon Antineutrino Disappearance in MINOS
We report an improved measurement of Ī½Ģ
_Ī¼ disappearance over a distance of 735 km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a Ī½Ģ
_Ī¼-enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95Ć10^20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of ĪmĢ
^2=[2.62_(-0.28)^(+0.31)(stat)Ā±0.09(syst)]Ć10^(-3)āāeV^2 and constrain the Ī½_Ī¼ mixing angle sin^(2)(2ĪøĢ
)>0.75 (90% C.L.). These values are in agreement with Īm^2 and sin^(2)(2Īø) measured for Ī½Ī¼, removing the tension reported in [ P. Adamson et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 021801 (2011)]
Feedback in a cavity QED system for control of quantum beats
Conditional measurements on the undriven mode of a two-mode cavity QED system
prepare a coherent superposition of ground states which generate quantum beats.
The continuous system drive induces decoherence through the phase interruptions
from Rayleigh scattering, which manifests as a decrease of the beat amplitude
and an increase of the frequency of oscillation. We report recent experiments
that implement a simple feedback mechanism to protect the quantum beat. We
continuously drive the system until a photon is detected, heralding the
presence of a coherent superposition. We then turn off the drive and let the
superposition evolve in the dark, protecting it against decoherence. At a later
time we reinstate the drive to measure the amplitude, phase, and frequency of
the beats. The amplitude can increase by more than fifty percent, while the
frequency is unchanged by the feedback.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, ICAP 2012 23rd International Conference on
Atomic Physic
Picosecond time-resolved pure-rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy for N-2 thermometry
This paper was published in Optics Letters and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=ol-34-23-3755. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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