481 research outputs found
Undergraduate student experience in dental service delivery in rural South Australia: An analysis of costs and benefits
The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Background: Rural experience for dental students can provide valuable clinical education, change attitudes to rural practice, and make a valuable contribution to clinical service provision. The aim of this paper is to assess the costs and benefits of service delivery by students through rural training programmes. Methods: Groups of two students worked in the public dental clinics in adjacent rural centres where there had been long-term difficulties in recruiting staff. The costs and benefits of the programme were assessed by the impact on waiting lists, the total cost per patient of a course of care and by the marginal cost of adding service provision by students to existing arrangements. Results: The total costs of emergency and complete treatment provided by students were greater than the costs of treatment provided by public-sector dentists but less than the costs of private providers treating public patients. However, the value of services were greater when care was provided by students or private providers and the marginal cost of students providing services was 50-70 per cent of the cost of care provided by public dentists. Conclusion: This assessment suggests that the service benefits achieved compliment the primary objective of influencing the attitude of students to rural practice.L Richards, B Symon, D Burrow, A Chartier, G Misan and D Wilkinso
On the regular-geometric-figure solution to the N-body problem
The regular-geometric-figure solution to the -body problem is presented in
a very simple way. The Newtonian formalism is used without resorting to a more
involved rotating coordinate system. Those configurations occur for other kinds
of interactions beyond the gravitational ones for some special values of the
parameters of the forces. For the harmonic oscillator, in particular, it is
shown that the -body problem is reduced to one-body problems.Comment: To appear in Eur. J. Phys. (5 pages
Cultural differences in postnatal quality of life among German-speaking women - a prospective survey in two countries.
Assessment of quality of life after childbirth is an important health-outcome measurement for new mothers and is of special interest in midwifery. The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) is a validated instrument to assess postnatal quality of life. The tool has not been applied for making a cross-cultural comparison before. This study investigated (a) responses to the MGI in German-speaking women in Germany and Switzerland; and (b) associations between MGI scores on the one hand and maternity and midwifery care on the other
On Virtual Displacement and Virtual Work in Lagrangian Dynamics
The confusion and ambiguity encountered by students, in understanding virtual
displacement and virtual work, is discussed in this article. A definition of
virtual displacement is presented that allows one to express them explicitly
for holonomic (velocity independent), non-holonomic (velocity dependent),
scleronomous (time independent) and rheonomous (time dependent) constraints. It
is observed that for holonomic, scleronomous constraints, the virtual
displacements are the displacements allowed by the constraints. However, this
is not so for a general class of constraints. For simple physical systems, it
is shown that, the work done by the constraint forces on virtual displacements
is zero. This motivates Lagrange's extension of d'Alembert's principle to
system of particles in constrained motion. However a similar zero work
principle does not hold for the allowed displacements. It is also demonstrated
that d'Alembert's principle of zero virtual work is necessary for the
solvability of a constrained mechanical problem. We identify this special class
of constraints, physically realized and solvable, as {\it the ideal
constraints}. The concept of virtual displacement and the principle of zero
virtual work by constraint forces are central to both Lagrange's method of
undetermined multipliers, and Lagrange's equations in generalized coordinates.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. This article is based on an earlier article
physics/0410123. It includes new figures, equations and logical conten
Postnatal quality of life in women after normal vaginal delivery and caesarean section
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Caesarean section might increase the incidence of surgical interventions and problems resulting from hospitalization and thus affecting quality of life in women after delivery. This study aimed to compare quality of life in women after normal delivery and caesarean section.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a prospective study. A sample of women with normal delivery and caesarean section from 5 health care centers in Isfahan, Iran were entered into the study. Quality of life was measured using the SF-36 at two points in time (time 1: 6 to 8 weeks after delivery; time 2: 12 to 14 weeks after delivery). Data were analyzed to compare quality of life in the two study groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all 100 women were interviewed (50 with normal delivery and 50 with caesarean section). Postnatal quality of life in both groups was improved from time1 to time 2. However, comparing the mean scores between the normal and caesarean delivery groups the results showed that in general the normal vaginal delivery group had a better quality of life for almost all subscales in both assessment times. The differences were significant for vitality (mean score 62.9 vs. 54.4 P = 0.03) and mental health (mean score 75.1 vs. 66.7, P = 0.03) at first assessment and for physical functioning (mean score 88.4 vs. 81.5, P = 0.03) at second evaluation. However, comparing the findings within each group the analysis showed that the normal vaginal delivery group improved more on physical health related quality of life while the caesarean section group improved more on mental health related quality of life.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the study did not show a clear cut benefit in favor of either methods of delivery that are normal vaginal delivery or caesarean section, the findings suggest that normal vaginal delivery might lead to a better quality of life especially resulting in a superior physical health. Indeed in the absence of medical indications normal vaginal delivery might be better to be considered as the first priority in term pregnancy.</p
The unseen and unacceptable face of digital libraries
The social and organizational aspects of digital libraries are often overlooked but this paper reviews how they can affect users' awareness and acceptance of digital libraries. An analysis of research conducted within two contrasting domains (Clinical and Academic) is presented which highlights issues of user interactions, work practices and the organizational social structures. The combined study comprises an analysis of 98 in-depth interviews and focus groups with lecturers, librarians and hospital clinicians. The importance of current and past roles of the library, and how users interacted with it, are revealed. Web-based digital libraries, while alleviating most library resource and interaction problems, require a change in librarians' and DL designers' roles and interaction patterns if they are to be implemented acceptably and effectively. Without this role change, users will at best be unaware of these digital resources and at worst feel threatened by them. The findings of this paper highlight the importance on DL design and implementation of the social context and supporting user communication (i.e. collaboration and consultation) in their information search and usage activities
Resonance in Bose-Einstein condensate oscillation from a periodic variation in scattering length
Using the explicit numerical solution of the axially-symmetric
Gross-Pitaevskii equation we study the oscillation of the Bose-Einstein
condensate induced by a periodic variation in the atomic scattering length .
When the frequency of oscillation of is an even multiple of the radial or
axial trap frequency, respectively, the radial or axial oscillation of the
condensate exhibits resonance with novel feature. In this nonlinear problem
without damping, at resonance in the steady state the amplitude of oscillation
passes through maximum and minimum. Such growth and decay cycle of the
amplitude may keep on repeating. Similar behavior is also observed in a
rotating Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 14 REVTEX4 pages, 18 PS figures, final version Accepted in Journal of
Physics
Performing the responsive and committed employee through the sociomaterial mangle of connection
In the light of increasingly mobile and flexible work, maintaining connections to work is presented as vital. Various studies have sought to understand how these connections are experienced and managed, particularly through the use of smartphones (e.g. Mazmanian, Orlikowski & Yates, 2013). We take a new perspective on this practice by bringing together the conceptual fields of sociomateriality (Pickering, 1995) and identity work (Svenningsson & Alvesson, 2003). Through the analysis of narratives produced by smartphone users in an engineering firm we argue that connection can be viewed as a sociomaterial assemblage that performs particular identities: being contactable and responsive; being involved and committed; and being in-demand and authoritative. Through this analysis we both elaborate the concept of connectivity at work and indicate how the material is implicated in identity performances
Liposome-based drug delivery in breast cancer treatment
Drug delivery systems can in principle provide enhanced efficacy and/or reduced toxicity for anticancer agents. Long circulating macromolecular carriers such as liposomes can exploit the 'enhanced permeability and retention' effect for preferential extravasation from tumor vessels. Liposomal anthracyclines have achieved highly efficient drug encapsulation, resulting in significant anticancer activity with reduced cardiotoxicity, and include versions with greatly prolonged circulation such as liposomal daunorubicin and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin. Pegylated liposomal doxorubucin has shown substantial efficacy in breast cancer treatment both as monotherapy and in combination with other chemotherapeutics. Additional liposome constructs are being developed for the delivery of other drugs. The next generation of delivery systems will include true molecular targeting; immunoliposomes and other ligand-directed constructs represent an integration of biological components capable of tumor recognition with delivery technologies
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