A Dynamical Model of Color Confinement

A dynamical model of confinement based on a transport theoretical description of the Friedberg-Lee model is extended to explicit color degrees of freedom. The string tension is reproduced by an adiabatic string formation from the nucleon ground state. Color isovector oscillation modes of a $q\bar{q}$-system are investigated for a wide range of relative $q\bar{q}$-momenta and the dynamical impact of color confinement on the quark motion is shown.Comment: 12 pages plus 5 figure

Two Skyrmion Dynamics with Omega Mesons

We present our first results of numerical simulations of two skyrmion dynamics using an $\omega$-meson stabilized effective Lagrangian. We consider skyrmion-skyrmion scattering with a fixed initial velocity of $\beta=0.5$, for various impact parameters and groomings. The physical picture that emerges is surprisingly rich, while consistent with previous results and general conservation laws. We find meson radiation, skyrmion scattering out of the scattering plane, orbiting and capture to bound states.Comment: 19 pages, 22 figure

Collision-Induced Decay of Metastable Baby Skyrmions

Many extensions of the standard model predict heavy metastable particles which may be modeled as solitons (skyrmions of the Higgs field), relating their particle number to a winding number. Previous work has shown that the electroweak interactions admit processes in which these solitons decay, violating standard model baryon number. We motivate the hypothesis that baryon-number-violating decay is a generic outcome of collisions between these heavy particles. We do so by exploring a 2+1 dimensional theory which also possesses metastable skyrmions. We use relaxation techniques to determine the size, shape and energy of static solitons in their ground state. These solitons could decay by quantum mechanical tunneling. Classically, they are metastable: only a finite excitation energy is required to induce their decay. We attempt to induce soliton decay in a classical simulation by colliding pairs of solitons. We analyze the collision of solitons with varying inherent stabilities and varying incident velocities and orientations. Our results suggest that winding-number violating decay is a generic outcome of collisions. All that is required is sufficient (not necessarily very large) incident velocity; no fine-tuning of initial conditions is required.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, latex. Very small changes onl

Skyrmion-anti-Skyrmion Annihilation with Omega Mesons

We study numerically the annihilation of an omega-stabilized Skyrmion and an anti-Skyrmion in three spatial dimensions. To our knowledge this is a first successful simulation of Skyrmion-anti-Skyrmion annihilation which follows through to the point where the energy is carried by outgoing meson waves. We encounter instabilities similar to those encountered is earlier calculations, but in our case these are not fatal and we are able to simulate through this process with a global energy loss of less than 8%, and to identify robust features of the final radiation pattern. The system passes through a singular configuration at the time of half-annihilation. This is followed by the onset of fast oscillations which are superimposed on the smoother process which leads to the appearence of outgoing spherical waves. We investigate the two prominent features of this process, the proliferation of small, fast oscillations, and the singular intermediate configuration. We find that our equations of motion allow for a regime in which the amplitude of certain small perturbations increases exponentially. This regime is similar but not identical to the situation pointed out earlier regarding the original Skyrme model. We argue that the singularity may be seen as the result of a pinch effect similar to that encountered in plasmas.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure

Standardizing admission and discharge processes to improve patient flow: a cross sectional study

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate how hospital capacity was managed focusing on standardizing the admission and discharge processes. Methods: This study was set in a 900-bed university affiliated hospital of the National Health Service, near Barcelona (Spain). This is a cross-sectional study of a set of interventions which were gradually implemented between April and December 2008. Mainly, they were focused on standardizing the admission and discharge processes to improve patient flow. Primary administrative data was obtained from the 2007 and 2009 Hospital Database. Main outcome measures were median length of stay, percentage of planned discharges, number of surgery cancellations and median number of delayed emergency admissions at 8:00 am. For statistical bivariate analysis, we used a Chi-squared for linear trend for qualitative variables and a Wilcoxon signed ranks test and a Mann-Whitney test for non-normal continuous variables. Results: The median patients' global length of stay was 8.56 days in 2007 and 7.93 days in 2009 (p < 0.051). The percentage of patients admitted the same day as surgery increased from 64.87% in 2007 to 86.01% in 2009 (p < 0.05). The number of cancelled interventions due to lack of beds was 216 patients in 2007 and 42 patients in 2009. The median number of planned discharges went from 43.05% in 2007 to 86.01% in 2009 (p < 0.01). The median number of emergency patients waiting for an in-hospital bed at 8:00 am was 5 patients in 2007 and 3 patients in 2009 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: In conclusion, standardization of admission and discharge processes are largely in our control. There is a significant opportunity to create important benefits for increasing bed capacity and hospital throughput

Not all waits are equal: An investigation of emergency care patient pathway.

Abstract Background: Increasing pressure in the United Kingdom (UK) urgent care system has led to Emergency Departments (EDs) failing to meet the national requirement that 95% of patients are admitted, discharged or transferred within 4-h of arrival. Despite the target being the same for all acute hospitals, individual Trusts organise their services in different ways. The impact of this variation on patient journey time and waiting is unknown. Our study aimed to apply the Lean technique of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to investigate care processes and delays in patient journeys at four contrasting hospitals. Methods: VSM timing data were collected for patients accessing acute care at four hospitals in South West England. Data were categorised according to waits and activities, which were compared across sites to identify variations in practice from the patient viewpoint. We included Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) to fully interpret our findings; observations and initial findings were considered in a PPI workshop. Results: One hundred eight patients were recruited, comprising 25,432 min of patient time containing 4098 episodes of care or waiting. The median patient journey was 223 min (3 h, 43 min); just within the 4-h target. Although total patient journey times were similar between sites, the stage where the greatest proportion of waiting occurred varied. Reasons for waiting were dominated by waits for beds, investigations or results to be available. From our sample we observed that EDs without a discharge/clinical decision area exhibited a greater proportion of waiting time following an admission or discharge decision. PPI interpretation indicated that patients who experience waits at the beginning of their journey feel more anxious because they are ‘not in the system yet’. Conclusions: The novel application of VSM analysis across different hospitals, coupled with PPI interpretation, provides important insight into the impact of care provision on patient experience. Measures that could reduce patient waiting include automatic notification of test results, and the option of discharge/clinical decision areas for patients awaiting results or departure. To enhance patient experience, good communication with patients and relatives about reasons for waits is essential. Keywords: Health service research, Acute care, Emergency admissions, Patient care, Value stream mapping, Emergency department, Patient public involvemen