219 research outputs found

    Relationship between illness representation and self-efficacy

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    Aim.  This paper reports a patient survey exploring the possible relationship between illness perception and self-efficacy following a cardiac event, and the implications this could have for nursing practice.Background.  Cardiac rehabilitation guidelines endorse the need to improve psychological care; suggesting that individualized support will improve the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation. Surveys, however, continue to identify that psychosocial factors are poorly assessed. Illness representation and self-efficacy are two prominent research approaches that have been developed as separate foci for the treatment of patients.Method.  A cross-sectional survey with patients diagnosed with either myocardial infarction or angina over an 8-month period in two hospitals. The Illness Perception Questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Cardiac Diet Self-efficacy Instrument and Cardiac Exercise Self-efficacy Instrument were used, alongside two specifically-designed scales: the Diet Outcome Expectation and Exercise Outcome Expectation Scales.Results.  The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between illness perception and self-efficacy. The greater patients’ perceived consequences of the heart condition, the lower was the general self-efficacy available to cope with the condition. Further, the longer the perceived time the condition will affect the patient, the higher the specific self-efficacy to maintain a change of diet or exercise regime.Conclusion.  The findings identify that, in the initial phase of recovery, nursing practice needs to focus on the key variables of ‘consequence’ and ‘timeline’ in order to increase patients’ confidence in their ability to cope (self-efficacy)

    The Scientific Foundations of Forecasting Magnetospheric Space Weather

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    The magnetosphere is the lens through which solar space weather phenomena are focused and directed towards the Earth. In particular, the non-linear interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field leads to the formation of highly inhomogenous electrical currents in the ionosphere which can ultimately result in damage to and problems with the operation of power distribution networks. Since electric power is the fundamental cornerstone of modern life, the interruption of power is the primary pathway by which space weather has impact on human activity and technology. Consequently, in the context of space weather, it is the ability to predict geomagnetic activity that is of key importance. This is usually stated in terms of geomagnetic storms, but we argue that in fact it is the substorm phenomenon which contains the crucial physics, and therefore prediction of substorm occurrence, severity and duration, either within the context of a longer-lasting geomagnetic storm, but potentially also as an isolated event, is of critical importance. Here we review the physics of the magnetosphere in the frame of space weather forecasting, focusing on recent results, current understanding, and an assessment of probable future developments.Peer reviewe

    Measurement of the total cross section and ρ -parameter from elastic scattering in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    In a special run of the LHC with β⋆=2.5 km, proton–proton elastic-scattering events were recorded at s√=13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 340 μb−1 using the ALFA subdetector of ATLAS in 2016. The elastic cross section was measured differentially in the Mandelstam t variable in the range from −t=2.5⋅10−4 GeV2 to −t=0.46 GeV2 using 6.9 million elastic-scattering candidates. This paper presents measurements of the total cross section σtot, parameters of the nuclear slope, and the ρ-parameter defined as the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the elastic-scattering amplitude in the limit t→0. These parameters are determined from a fit to the differential elastic cross section using the optical theorem and different parameterizations of the t-dependence. The results for σtot and ρ are σtot(pp→X)=104.7±1.1 mb ,ρ=0.098±0.011. The uncertainty in σtot is dominated by the luminosity measurement, and in ρ by imperfect knowledge of the detector alignment and by modelling of the nuclear amplitude.publishedVersio

    Search for heavy Majorana or Dirac neutrinos and right-handed W gauge bosons in final states with charged leptons and jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    A search for heavy right-handed Majorana or Dirac neutrinos NR and heavy right-handed gauge bosons WR is performed in events with energetic electrons or muons, with the same or opposite electric charge, and energetic jets. The search is carried out separately for topologies of clearly separated final-state products (“resolved” channel) and topologies with boosted final states with hadronic and/or leptonic products partially overlapping and reconstructed as a large-radius jet (“boosted” channel). The events are selected from pp collision data at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector at √s = 13 TeV. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. The results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a left-right symmetric model, and lower limits are set on masses in the heavy righthanded WR boson and NR plane. The excluded region extends to about m(WR) = 6.4 TeV for both Majorana and Dirac NR neutrinos at m(NR) < 1 TeV. NR with masses of less than 3.5 (3.6) TeV are excluded in the electron (muon) channel at m(WR) = 4.8 TeV for the Majorana neutrinos, and limits of m(NR) up to 3.6 TeV for m(WR) = 5.2 (5.0) TeV in the electron (muon) channel are set for the Dirac neutrinos. These constitute the most stringent exclusion limits to date for the model considered

    Precision measurement of the B0 meson lifetime using B0 → J/ψ K∗0 decays with the ATLAS detector

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    Search for charged Higgs bosons produced in top-quark decays or in association with top quarks and decaying via H±→τ±ντ in 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

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    Charged Higgs bosons produced either in top-quark decays or in association with a top quark, subsequently decaying via H±→τ±ντ, are searched for in 140  fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s=13  TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. Depending on whether the top quark is produced together with the H± decays hadronically or semileptonically, the search targets τ+jets or τ+lepton final states, in both cases with a τ-lepton decaying into a neutrino and hadrons. No significant excess over the Standard Model background expectation is observed. For the mass range of 80≤mH±≤3000  GeV, upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section of the charged Higgs boson times the branching fraction B(H±→τ±ντ) in the range 4.5 pb–0.4 fb. In the mass range 80–160 GeV, assuming the Standard Model cross section for tt¯ production, this corresponds to upper limits between 0.27% and 0.02% on B(t→bH±)×B(H±→τ±ντ).</jats:p
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