100 research outputs found
Bare Below the Elbows: A comparative study of a tertiary and district general hospital.
A \u27Bare Below the Elbows\u27 (BBTE) dress code policy has been introduced by the majority of NHS trusts in the UK. The aim of this Irish study was to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on perception of medical attire. The study was carried out in two centres: a tertiary referral centre (Beaumont Hospital) and a district hospital (MRH, Portlaoise). Two questionnaires, incorporating photographic evaluation of appropriate attire for consultants and junior doctors, were completed pre and post BBTE education. One hundred and five patients participated. Analysis pre BBTE education indicated patients considered formal attire and white coats most appropriate for consultants and junior doctors respectively. Post-intervention analysis revealed a significant reduction in the popularity of both (
Robot Assisted Surgical Ward Rounds: Virtually Always There
Background:  While an explosion in technological sophistication has revolutionized surgery within the operating theatre, delivery of surgical ward-based care has seen little innovation. Use of telepresence allowing off-site clinicians communicate with patients has been largely restricted to outpatient settings or use of complex, expensive, static devices. We designed a prospective study to ascertain feasibility and face validity of a remotely controlled mobile audiovisual drone (LUCY) to access inpatients.  This device is, uniquely, lightweight, freely mobile and emulates âhumanâ interaction by swiveling and adjusting height to patientsâ eye-level.   Methods: Robot-assisted ward rounds(RASWR) were conducted over 3 months. A remotely located consultant surgeon communicated with patients/bedside teams via encrypted audiovisual telepresence robot (DoubleRoboticstm, California USA). Likert-scale satisfaction questionnaires, incorporating free-text sections for mixed-methods data collection, were disseminated to patient and staff volunteers following RASWRs. The same cohort completed a linked questionnaire following conventional (gold-standard) rounds, acting as control group. Data were paired, and non-parametric analysis performed.  Results: RASWRs are feasible (>90% completed without technical difficulty). The RASWR(n=52 observations) demonstrated face validity with strong correlations (r>0.7; Spearman, p-value <0.05) between robotic and conventional ward rounds among patients and staff on core themes, including dignity/confidentiality/communication/satisfaction with management plan. Patients (96.08%, n=25) agreed RASWR were a satisfactory alternative when consultant physical presence was not possible. There was acceptance of nursing/NCHD cohort (100% (n=11) willing to regularly partake in RASWR).  Conclusion: RASWRs receive high levels of patient and staff acceptance, and offer a valid alternative to conventional ward rounds when a consultant cannot be physically present
Type II Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: V. Imaging host galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope
Type II quasars are luminous Active Galactic Nuclei whose centers are
obscured by large amounts of gas and dust. In this paper we present 3-band HST
images of nine type II quasars with redshifts 0.2 < z < 0.4 selected from the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey based on their emission line properties. The intrinsic
luminosities of these AGN are estimated to be -24 > M_B > -26, but optical
obscuration allows their host galaxies to be studied unencumbered by bright
nuclei. Each object has been imaged in three continuum filters (`UV', `blue'
and `yellow') placed between the strong emission lines. The spectacular, high
quality images reveal a wealth of details about the structure of the host
galaxies and their environments. Six of the nine galaxies in the sample are
ellipticals with de Vaucouleurs light profiles, one object has a well-defined
disk component and the remaining two have marginal disks. Stellar populations
of type II quasar hosts are more luminous (by a median of 0.3-0.7 mag,
depending on the wavelength) and bluer (by about 0.4 mag) than are M* galaxies
at the same redshift. When smooth fits to stellar light are subtracted from the
images, we find both positive and negative residuals that become more prominent
toward shorter wavelengths. We argue that the negative residuals are due to
kpc-scale dust obscuration, while most positive residuals are due to the light
from the nucleus scattered off interstellar material in the host galaxy.
Scattered light makes a significant contribution to the broad band continuum
emission and can be the dominant component of the extended emission in the UV
in extreme cases.Comment: 51 pages, including 12 grey scale figures, 4 color figures, 5 tables.
In press in AJ. Version with higher-resolution images available at
http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~nadia/qso2.html. (Minor changes in response
to the referee report
Life and Liesegang: Outcrop-Scale Microbially Induced Diagenetic Structures and Geochemical Self-Organization Phenomena Produced by Oxidation of Reduced Iron
The Kanab Wonderstone is sandstone (Shinarump Member, Chinle Formation) that is cemented and stained with iron oxide. The iron-oxide cementation and staining in these rocks have been considered examples of the Liesegang phenomenon, but we will show that they comprise a microbially induced structure. The spacing of bands of iron-oxide stain follow the Jablczynski spacing law (wherein the spacing between bands of iron-oxide stain increases as one traverses a series of bands) characteristic of Liesegang. Bands of iron-oxide cement exhibit more variable spacing and exhibit a weak but significant correlation between band thickness and distance between bands of cement. The pore-filling cement contains morphotypes that are similar in size and habit to those exhibited by microaerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria. Other disseminated iron-oxide mineralization occurs as rhombohedra interpreted to be pseudomorphs after siderite. We interpret the cement to be produced by microbially mediated oxidation of siderite (a typical early diagenetic mineral in fluvial sandstones). Iron-oxidizing bacteria colonized the redox interface between siderite-cemented sand and porous sandstone. Microbes oxidized aqueous Fe(II), generating acid that caused siderite dissolution. The iron-oxide cement is the microbial product of a geochemical drive for organization; whereas the iron-oxide stain is true Liesegang. Together, they comprise a distinctive microbially induced structure with high preservation potential. Key Words: BiosignaturesâIron oxidesâDiagenesisâIron-oxidizing bacteriaâShinarump
LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint
magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science
opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field
of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over
20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with
fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a
total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic
parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book
discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a
broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and
outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,
the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local
Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the
properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then
turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to
z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and
baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to
constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at
http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo
LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in
the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of
science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will
have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is
driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking
an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and
mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at
Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m
effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel
camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second
exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given
night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000
square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5
point-source depth in a single visit in will be (AB). The
project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations
by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg with
, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, ,
covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time
will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a
18,000 deg region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the
anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to . The
remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a
Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products,
including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion
objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures
available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie
The NEID precision radial velocity spectrometer: Commissioning of the Port Adapter
In October 2019, the NEID instrument (PI Suvrath Mahadevan, PSU) was delivered to the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Commissioning began shortly after delivery, but was paused due to a COVID-19 imposed observatory shutdown in March 2020. The observatory has recently reopened and NEID commissioning has resumed. NEID is an optical (380-930 nm), fiber-fed, precision Doppler radial velocity system developed as part of the NN-EXPLORE partnership. While the spectrometer and calibration system are maintained in a highly controlled environment on the basement level of the WIYN, the NEID Port Adapter mounts directly to a bent-Cassegrain port on the telescope and is responsible for precisely and stably placing target light on the science fibers. Here we present a brief overview of the as-built Port Adapter and its sub-components. We then discuss preliminary on-sky performance compared to requirements as well as next steps as we complete commissioning
A multicenter randomized clinical trial investigating the cost-effectiveness of treatment strategies with or without antibiotics for uncomplicated acute diverticulitis (DIABOLO trial)
Background. Conservative treatment of uncomplicated or mild diverticulitis usually includes antibiotic therapy. It is, however, uncertain whether patients with acute diverticulitis indeed benefit from antibiotics. In most guidelines issued by professional organizations antibiotics are considered mandatory in the treatment of mild diverticulitis. This advice lacks evidence and is merely based on experts' opinion. Adverse effects of the use of antibiotics are well known, including allergic reactions, development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and other side-effects. Methods. A randomized multicenter pragmatic clinical trial comparin
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