98 research outputs found
Excess length of hospital stay due to healthcare acquired infections. Methodologies evaluation
BACKGROUND:
Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) cause an increase of burden and in particular excess length of hospital stay (LOS) accounts for approximately up to 90% of total costs. Therefore accurate estimation of extra hospital stay due to healthcare acquired infections is very important.
METHODS:
The authors carried out a review comparing the principal methods internationally used for estimating the excess LOS attributable to healthcare acquired infections.
RESULTS:
The methods described and analysed are: 1) Implicit physician assessment; 2) appropriateness evaluation protocol; 3) unmatched case-control; 4) matched case-control; 5) regression analysis; 6) multistate model. The various methodologies are described underlining advantages and limits which researchers need to know before starting any economic analysis.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall, studies taking into account the time-dependent nature of HAI show to give more precise and reliable results
A bulk superconducting MgB2 cylinder for holding transversely polarized targets
An innovative solution is being pursued for the challenging magnetic problem of producing an internal transverse field around a polarized target, while shielding out an external longitudinal field from a detector. A hollow bulk superconductor can trap a transverse field that is present when cooled through its transition temperature, and also shield its interior from any subsequent field changes. A feasibility study with a prototype bulk MgB2 superconducting cylinder is described. Promising measurements taken of the interior field retention and exterior field exclusion, together with the corresponding long-term stability performance, are reported. In the context of an electron scattering experiment, such a solution minimizes beam deflection and the energy loss of reaction products, while also eliminating the heat load to the target cryostat from current leads that would be used with conventional electromagnets
Quasi-free Compton Scattering from the Deuteron and Nucleon Polarizabilities
Cross sections for quasi-free Compton scattering from the deuteron were
measured for incident energies of 236--260 MeV at the laboratory angle -135
degrees. The recoil nucleons were detected in a liquid-scintillator array
situated at 20 degrees. The measured differential cross sections were used,
with the calculations of Levchuk et al., to determine the polarizabilities of
the bound nucleons. For the bound proton, the extracted values were consistent
with the accepted value for the free proton. Combining our results for the
bound neutron with those from Rose et al., we obtain one-sigma constraints of
alpha_n = 7.6-14.0 and beta_n = 1.2-7.6.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted in PR
Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule and nucleon structure
A modification of the Gerasimov--Drell--Hearn sum rule suggested by the
current experimental data is presented. Within the conventional theoretical
framework, we find it necessary to consider the possibility of the presence of
a localized region inside a nucleon, in which the electromagnetic (EM) gauge
symmetry is spontaneous broken down, if the constraints of the gauge
invariance, Lorentz invariance and the assumption of the commutativity of the
EM charge density operator at equal-time are considered. We also discuss the
propagation of a virtual photon inside a nucleon under such a scenario. A
comment on some of the recent model independent works on the same subject is
provided.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figures, RevTeX file, published in 1996, Comments on
recent progresses added in the appendi
Updated resonance photo-decay amplitudes to 2 GeV
We present the results of an energy-dependent and set of single-energy
partial-wave analyses of single-pion photoproduction data. These analyses
extend from threshold to 2 GeV in the laboratory photon energy, and update our
previous analyses to 1.8 GeV. Photo-decay amplitudes are extracted for the
baryon resonances within this energy range. We consider two photoproduction sum
rules and the contributions of two additional resonance candidates found in our
most recent analysis of elastic scattering data. Comparisons are made
with previous analyses.Comment: Revtex, 26 pages, 3 figures. Postscript figures available from
ftp://clsaid.phys.vt.edu/pub/pr or indirectly from
http://clsaid.phys.vt.edu/~CAPS
Polarization Phenomena in Small-Angle Photoproduction of e+e- Pairs and the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Sum Rule
Photoproduction of pairs at small angles is investigated as a tool
to determine the functions and entering the real-photon forward
Compton scattering amplitude. The method is based on an interference of the
Bethe-Heitler and the virtual Compton scattering mechanisms, generating an
azimuthal asymmetry in the versus yield. The general case of a
circularly polarized beam and a longitudinally polarized target allows one to
determine both the real and imaginary parts of as well as . The
imaginary part of requires target polarization only. We calculate cross
sections and asymmetries of the reaction , estimate
corrections and backgrounds, and propose suitable kinematical regions to
perform the experiment. Our investigation shows that photoproduction of
-pairs off the proton and light nuclei may serve as a rather sensitive
test of the validity of the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule.Comment: 22 pages; revtex; 5 postscript figures included in submission;
submitted to Phys. Rev.
Meson-exchange Model for scattering and reaction
An effective Hamiltonian consisting of bare ,
vertex interactions and energy-independent meson-exchange transition operators is derived by applying a
unitary transformation to a model Lagrangian with , ,
, and fields. With appropraite phenomenological form factors
and coupling constants for and , the model can give a good
description of scattering phase shifts up to the excitation
energy region. It is shown that the best reproduction of the recent LEGS data
of the photon-asymmetry ratios in reactions
provides rather restricted constraints on the coupling strengths of the
electric and of the magnetic transitions of the bare vertex and the less well-determined coupling constant
of meson. Within the ranges that ,
, and , the predicted
differential cross sections and photon-asymmetry ratios are in an overall good
agreement with the data of , , and reactions from 180
MeV to the excitation region. The predicted and
multipole amplitudes are also in good agreement with the empirical values
determined by the amplitude analyses. The constructed effective Hamiltonian is
free of the nucleon renormlization problem and hence is suitable for nuclear
many-body calculations. We have also shown that the assumptions made in the
-matrix method, commonly used in extracting empirically the transition amplitudes from the data, are consistent withComment: 49 pages + 23 Figures, Revte
Low-Energy Compton Scattering of Polarized Photons on Polarized Nucleons
The general structure of the cross section of scattering with
polarized photon and/or nucleon in initial and/or final state is systematically
described and exposed through invariant amplitudes. A low-energy expansion of
the cross section up to and including terms of order is given which
involves ten structure parameters of the nucleon (dipole, quadrupole,
dispersion, and spin polarizabilities). Their physical meaning is discussed in
detail. Using fixed-t dispersion relations, predictions for these parameters
are obtained and compared with results of chiral perturbation theory. It is
emphasized that Compton scattering experiments at large angles can fix the most
uncertain of these structure parameters. Predictions for the cross section and
double-polarization asymmetries are given and the convergence of the expansion
is investigated. The feasibility of the experimental determination of some of
the struture parameters is discussed.Comment: 41 pages of text, 9 figures; minor revisions prior to publication in
Phys. Rev.
Fixed-t subtracted dispersion relations for Compton scattering off the nucleon
We present fixed- subtracted dispersion relations for Compton scattering
off the nucleon at energies 500 MeV, as a formalism to extract
the nucleon polarizabilities with a minimum of model dependence. The subtracted
dispersion integrals are mainly saturated by intermediate states in the
-channel and intermediate states
in the -channel . For the subprocess
, we construct a unitarized amplitude and find a
good description of the available data. We show results for Compton scattering
using the subtracted dispersion relations and display the sensitivity on the
scalar polarizability difference and the backward spin
polarizability , which enter directly as fit parameters in the
present formalism
Real and Virtual Compton Scattering off the Nucleon
A review is given of the very recent developments in the fields of real and
virtual Compton scattering off the nucleon. Both real and virtual Compton
scattering reactions are discussed at low outgoing photon energy where one
accesses polarizabilities of the nucleon. The real Compton scattering at large
momentum transfer is discussed which is asymptotically a tool to obtain
information on the valence quark wave function of the nucleon. The rapid
developments in deeply virtual Compton scattering and associated meson
electroproduction reactions at high energy, high photon virtuality and small
momentum transfer to the nucleon are discussed. A unified theoretical
description of those processes has emerged over the last few years, which gives
access to new, generalized parton distributions. The experimental status and
perspectives in these fields are also discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figure
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