13,749 research outputs found
Monte Carlo simulations of the halo white dwarf population
The interpretation of microlensing results towards the Large Magellanic Cloud
(LMC) still remains controversial. Whereas white dwarfs have been proposed to
explain these results and, hence, to contribute significantly to the mass
budget of our Galaxy, there are as well several constraints on the role played
by white dwarfs. In this paper we analyze self-consistently and simultaneously
four different results, namely, the local halo white dwarf luminosity function,
the microlensing results reported by the MACHO team towards the LMC, the
results of Hubble Deep Field (HDF) and the results of the EROS experiment, for
several initial mass functions and halo ages. We find that the proposed
log-normal initial mass functions do not contribute to solve the problem posed
by the observed microlensing events and, moreover, they overproduce white
dwarfs when compared to the results of the HDF and of the EROS survey. We also
find that the contribution of hydrogen-rich white dwarfs to the dynamical mass
of the halo of the Galaxy cannot be more than .Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Impact of a Multicomponent Digital Therapeutic Mobile App on Medication Adherence in Patients with Chronic Conditions: Retrospective Analysis.
BACKGROUND:Strategies to improve medication adherence are widespread in the literature; however, their impact is limited in real practice. Few patients persistently engage long-term to improve health outcomes, even when they are aware of the consequences of poor adherence. Despite the potential of mobile phone apps as a tool to manage medication adherence, there is still limited evidence of the impact of these innovative interventions. Real-world evidence can assist in minimizing this evidence gap. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to analyze the impact over time of a previously implemented digital therapeutic mobile app on medication adherence rates in adults with any chronic condition. METHODS:A retrospective observational study was performed to assess the adherence rates of patients with any chronic condition using Perx Health, a digital therapeutic that uses multiple components within a mobile health app to improve medication adherence. These components include gamification, dosage reminders, incentives, educational components, and social community components. Adherence was measured through mobile direct observation of therapy (MDOT) over 3-month and 6-month time periods. Implementation adherence, defined as the percentage of doses in which the correct dose of a medication was taken, was assessed across the study periods, in addition to timing adherence or percentage of doses taken at the appropriate time (±1 hour). The Friedman test was used to compare differences in adherence rates over time. RESULTS:We analyzed 243 and 130 patients who used the app for 3 months and 6 months, respectively. The average age of the 243 patients was 43.8 years (SD 15.5), and 156 (64.2%) were female. The most common medications prescribed were varenicline, rosuvastatin, and cholecalciferol. The median implementation adherence was 96.6% (IQR 82.1%-100%) over 3 months and 96.8% (IQR 87.1%-100%) over 6 months. Nonsignificant differences in adherence rates over time were observed in the 6-month analysis (Fr(2)=4.314, P=.505) and 3-month analysis (Fr(2)=0.635, P=.728). Similarly, the timing adherence analysis revealed stable trends with no significant changes over time. CONCLUSIONS:Retrospective analysis of users of a medication adherence management mobile app revealed a positive trend in maintaining optimal medication adherence over time. Mobile technology utilizing gamification, dosage reminders, incentives, education, and social community interventions appears to be a promising strategy to manage medication adherence in real practice
The Psychology of Engagement with Indigenous Identities: A Cultural Perspective
(c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.A questionnaire study among 124 students at Haskell Indian Nations University investigated the
hypothesis that engagement with Indigenous identity—assessed along 3 dimensions including
degree (identification scale), content (pan-ethnic or tribal nation), and context (reservation or
non-reservation)—can serve as a psychological resource for well-being and liberation from
oppression. Consistent with this hypothesis, degree of identification was positively correlated
with community efficacy and perception of racism. Apparently inconsistent with this hypothesis,
degree of identification among students who had resided on a reservation was negatively
correlated with the social self-esteem subscale of the Current Thoughts Scale (Heatherton &
Polivy, 1991). Rather than evidence against the identity-as-resource hypothesis, this pattern may
reflect the cultural grounding of self-esteem and tools designed to measure it
Three body systems with strangeness and exotic systems
We report on four 's and three 's, in the 1500 - 1800 MeV
region, as two meson - one baryon S-wave resonances found by solving
the Faddeev equations in the coupled channel approach, which can be associated
to the existing = -1, low lying baryon resonances. On the
other hand we also report on a new, hidden strangeness state, mostly made
of , with mass around 1920 MeV, which we think could be
responsible for the peak seen in the around this
energy. Finally we address a very novel topic in which we show how few body
systems of several mesons can be produced, with their spins aligned up
to J=6, and how these states found theoretically can be associated to several
known mesons with spins J=2,3,4,5,6.Comment: Talk at the 21st European Conference on Few Body Problems in Physics,
Salamanca, Sep. 201
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