Short-time critical dynamics

An introductory review to short-time critical dynamics is given. From the scaling relation valid already in the early stage of the evolution of a system at or near the critical point, one derives power law behaviour for various quantities. By a numerical simulation of the system one can measure the critical exponents and, by searching for the best power law behaviour, one can determine the critical point. Critical slowing down as well as finite size corrections are nearly absent, since the correlation length is still small for times far before equilibrium is reached. By measuring the (pseudo) critical points it is also possible to distinguish (weak) first-order from second-order phase transitions.Comment: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Nonperturbative Methods and Lattice QCD, Guangzho

Estimating the additional costs of living with a disability in the United Kingdom between 2013 and 2016

In the United Kingdom, more than 20% of the population live with a disability. Past evidence shows that being disabled is associated with functional limitations that often cause social exclusion and poverty. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the connection between disability and poverty. This paper examines whether households with disabled members face extra costs of living to attain the same standard of living as their peers without disabled members. The modelling framework is based on the standard of living approach which estimates the extra income required to close the gap between households with and without disabled members. We apply an ordered logit regression to data from the Family Resources Survey between 2013 and 2016 to analyse the relationship between standard of living, income, and disability, conditional on other explanatory variables. We find that households with disabled members face considerable extra costs that go beyond the transfer payment of the government. The average household with disabled members saw their weekly extra costs continually increase from £293 in 2013 to £326 in 2016 [2020 prices]. Therefore, the government needs to adjust welfare policies to address the problem of extra costs faced by households with disabled members

The short-time critical behaviour of the Ginzburg-Landau model with long-range interaction

The renormalisation group approach is applied to the study of the short-time critical behaviour of the $d$-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau model with long-range interaction of the form $p^{\sigma} s_{p}s_{-p}$ in momentum space. Firstly the system is quenched from a high temperature to the critical temperature and then relaxes to equilibrium within the model A dynamics. The asymptotic scaling laws and the initial slip exponents $\theta^{\prime}$ and $\theta$ of the order parameter and the response function respectively, are calculated to the second order in $\epsilon=2\sigma-d$.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Professional decision-making in medicine: Development of a new measure and preliminary evidence of validity

INTRODUCTION: This study developed a new Professional Decision-Making in Medicine Measure that assesses the use of effective decision-making strategies: seek help, manage emotions, recognize consequences and rules, and test assumptions and motives. The aim was to develop a content valid measure and obtain initial evidence for construct validity so that the measure could be used in future research or educational assessment. METHODS: Clinical scenario-based items were developed based on a review of the literature and interviews with physicians. For each item, respondents are tasked with selecting two responses (out of six plausible options) that they would choose in that situation. Three of the six options reflect a decision-making strategy; these responses are scored as correct. Data were collected from a sample of 318 fourth-year medical students in the United States. They completed a 16-item version of the measure (Form A) and measures of social desirability, moral disengagement, and professionalism attitudes. Professionalism ratings from clerkships were also obtained. A sub-group (n = 63) completed a second 16-item measure (Form B) to pilot test the instrument, as two test forms are useful for pre-posttest designs. RESULTS: Scores on the new measure indicated that, on average, participants answered 75% of items correctly. Evidence for construct validity included the lack of correlation between scores on the measure and socially desirable responding, negative correlation with moral disengagement, and modest to low correlations with professionalism attitudes. A positive correlation was observed with a clerkship rating focused on professionalism in peer interactions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate modest proficiency in the use of decision-making strategies among fourth-year medical students. Additional research using the Professional Decision-Making Measure should explore scores among physicians in various career stages, and the causes and correlates of scores. Educators could utilize the measure to assess courses that teach decision-making strategies

Exploring perceptions of healthcare technologies enabled by artificial intelligence: An online, scenario-based survey

BACKGROUND: Healthcare is expected to increasingly integrate technologies enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) into patient care. Understanding perceptions of these tools is essential to successful development and adoption. This exploratory study gauged participants\u27 level of openness, concern, and perceived benefit associated with AI-driven healthcare technologies. We also explored socio-demographic, health-related, and psychosocial correlates of these perceptions. METHODS: We developed a measure depicting six AI-driven technologies that either diagnose, predict, or suggest treatment. We administered the measure via an online survey to adults (N = 936) in the United States using MTurk, a crowdsourcing platform. Participants indicated their level of openness to using the AI technology in the healthcare scenario. Items reflecting potential concerns and benefits associated with each technology accompanied the scenarios. Participants rated the extent that the statements of concerns and benefits influenced their perception of favorability toward the technology. Participants completed measures of socio-demographics, health variables, and psychosocial variables such as trust in the healthcare system and trust in technology. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the concern and benefit items identified two factors representing overall level of concern and perceived benefit. Descriptive analyses examined levels of openness, concern, and perceived benefit. Correlational analyses explored associations of socio-demographic, health, and psychosocial variables with openness, concern, and benefit scores while multivariable regression models examined these relationships concurrently. RESULTS: Participants were moderately open to AI-driven healthcare technologies (M = 3.1/5.0 ± 0.9), but there was variation depending on the type of application, and the statements of concerns and benefits swayed views. Trust in the healthcare system and trust in technology were the strongest, most consistent correlates of openness, concern, and perceived benefit. Most other socio-demographic, health-related, and psychosocial variables were less strongly, or not, associated, but multivariable models indicated some personality characteristics (e.g., conscientiousness and agreeableness) and socio-demographics (e.g., full-time employment, age, sex, and race) were modestly related to perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: Participants\u27 openness appears tenuous, suggesting early promotion strategies and experiences with novel AI technologies may strongly influence views, especially if implementation of AI technologies increases or undermines trust. The exploratory nature of these findings warrants additional research

Klüver-Bucy syndrome associated with a recessive variant in HGSNAT in two siblings with Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC (Sanfilippo C)

Kluver-Bucy syndrome (KBS) comprises a set of neurobehavioral symptoms with psychic blindness, hypersexuality, disinhibition, hyperorality, and hypermetamorphosis that were originally observed after bilateral lobectomy in Rhesus monkeys. We investigated two siblings with KBS from a consanguineous family by whole-exome sequencing and autozygosity mapping. We detected a homozygous variant in the heparan-alpha-glucosaminidase-N-acetyltransferase gene (HGSNAT; c.518G>A, p.(G173D), NCBI ClinVar RCV000239404.1), which segregated with the phenotype. Disease-causing variants in this gene are known to be associated with autosomal recessive Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC (MPSIIIC, Sanfilippo C). This lysosomal storage disease is due to deficiency of the acetyl-CoA:alpha-glucosaminidase-N-acetyltransferase, which was shown to be reduced in patient fibroblasts. Our report extends the phenotype associated with MPSIIIC. Besides MPSIIIA and MPSIIIB, due to variants in SGSH and NAGLU, this is the third subtype of Sanfilippo disease to be associated with KBS. MPSIII should be included in the differential diagnosis of young patients with KBS

Preliminary genetic evidence of two different populations of Opisthorchis viverrini in Lao PDR

Opisthorchis viverrini is a major public health concern in Southeast Asia. Various reports have suggested that this parasite may represent a species complex, with genetic structure in the region perhaps being dictated by geographical factors and different species of intermediate hosts. We used four microsatellite loci to analyze O. viverrini adult worms originating from six species of cyprinid fish in Thailand and Lao PDR. Two distinct O. viverrini populations were observed. In Ban Phai, Thailand, only one subgroup occurred, hosted by two different fish species. Both subgroups occurred in fish from That Luang, Lao PDR, but were represented to very different degrees among the fish hosts there. Our data suggest that, although geographical separation is more important than fish host specificity in influencing genetic structure, it is possible that two species of Opisthorchis, with little interbreeding, are present near Vientiane in Lao PDR