The effects of matter density uncertainties on neutrino oscillations in the Earth

We compare three different methods to evaluate uncertainties in the Earth's matter density profile, which are relevant to long baseline experiments, such as neutrino factories.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Talk given at the NuFact'02 Workshop, London, 1-6 July, 200

Sustainable Development Goal 3

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to develop a better and sustainable future for the world and the goals are part of an action plan to address poverty, hunger, health, gender equity and various pressing world issues. One of these goals looks at health and wellness. Ageing populations have become a crucial issue worldwide and this short monograph explores ageing and how the consequences of an ageing population may affect our health care system through the case study on Hong Kong's population. The book looks at several critical health issues related to ageing. The elderly, particularly those with low socioeconomic status, rely more on the acute-centric care rather than primary care. The book suggests that secondary care service may only be effective to limited extent as a healthcare measure and an optimum health care system should be one that focuses on primary care. The authors put forth a compelling argument for disease prevention and screening schemes and explain how they are more cost-effective and beneficial to the society and the system. This thoughtful book will provide beneficial insights into the relationship of ageing and sustainable development goals in the context of health and wellness for policy makers and healthcare professionals

Sustainable Development Goal 3

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to develop a better and sustainable future for the world and the goals are part of an action plan to address poverty, hunger, health, gender equity and various pressing world issues. One of these goals looks at health and wellness. Ageing populations have become a crucial issue worldwide and this short monograph explores ageing and how the consequences of an ageing population may affect our health care system through the case study on Hong Kong's population. The book looks at several critical health issues related to ageing. The elderly, particularly those with low socioeconomic status, rely more on the acute-centric care rather than primary care. The book suggests that secondary care service may only be effective to limited extent as a healthcare measure and an optimum health care system should be one that focuses on primary care. The authors put forth a compelling argument for disease prevention and screening schemes and explain how they are more cost-effective and beneficial to the society and the system. This thoughtful book will provide beneficial insights into the relationship of ageing and sustainable development goals in the context of health and wellness for policy makers and healthcare professionals

Patient Perception of Physician Attire Before and After Disclosure of the Risks of Microbial Contamination

Background: The white coat is traditionally considered to be the appropriate attire for physicians but it may also be contaminated with microbes and act as a potential source of infection. We aimed to study patients’ acceptance of physicians’ attire, their underlying reasons, and their reactions to an educational intervention with regards to the risks of contamination. Methods: We conducted a voluntary ques­tionnaire survey at a university teaching hospital in Hong Kong from February to July 2012. 262 patient-responses from adult inpatients and outpatients across various specialties were analysed. Results: White coats were highly favoured (90.8%) when compared with scrubs (22.1%), smart casual (7.6%) and formal (7.3%) wears. ’Professional image’ and ‘ease of identification’ were the main attributes of the white coat. Most patients (92.2%) would prefer doctors washing their white coats every few days, whilst 80.9% believed that doctors were actually doing so. After patients were informed of the potential risk of microbial contamination, white coats remained as the most favoured attire (66.4%), but with scrubs doubling in popularity (45.8%). Smart casual (9.2%) and formal attire (4.6%) remain the least accepted. Conclusion: Despite cross-infections being a significant concern within the healthcare environments, patients’ predominant acceptance and perceived attributes towards the white coat were maintained after an educational intervention on the risks of microbial contamination

The role of matter density uncertainties in the analysis of future neutrino factory experiments

Matter density uncertainties can affect the measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters at future neutrino factory experiments, such as the measurements of the mixing parameters $\theta_{13}$ and \deltacp. We compare different matter density uncertainty models and discuss the possibility to include the matter density uncertainties in a complete statistical analysis. Furthermore, we systematically study in which measurements and where in the parameter space matter density uncertainties are most relevant. We illustrate this discussion with examples that show the effects as functions of different magnitudes of the matter density uncertainties. We find that matter density uncertainties are especially relevant for large \stheta \gtrsim 10^{-3}. Within the KamLAND-allowed range, they are most relevant for the precision measurements of \stheta and \deltacp, but less relevant for ``binary'' measurements, such as for the sign of \ldm, the sensitivity to \stheta, or the sensitivity to maximal CP violation. In addition, we demonstrate that knowing the matter density along a specific baseline better than to about 1% precision means that all measurements will become almost independent of the matter density uncertainties.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX. Final version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Evaluation of a Multidisciplinary Team Approach for Generating Survivorship Care Plan Treatment Summaries in Patients With Breast Cancer

INTRODUCTION:: The optimal structure for survivorship care plan (SCP) programs and methodology for generating treatment summaries (TSs) has not yet been defined, but the Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers both mandate that participating oncology programs implement SCP-TS processes for patients that have completed treatment. METHODS:: We used the Institute for Healthcare Improvement\u27s Plan-Do-Study-Act model for conducting a quality improvement project evaluating two different SCP-TS programs implemented at the Henry Ford Health System/Henry Ford Cancer Institute\u27s Breast Oncology Program in Detroit, Michigan. System I involved TSs drafted by nonspecialist breast clinic staff; System II involved TSs vetted through a multidisciplinary breast specialist conference approach. Accuracy of basic documentation entries related to dates and components of treatment were compared for the two approaches. RESULTS:: Seventy-one System I and 93 System II documents were reviewed. Documentation was accurate in at least 90% of documents for both systems regarding delivery of chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy and for documenting the identity of the various members of the cancer treatment team. Both systems had notable inaccuracies in documenting type of surgery performed, but System II had fewer inaccuracies than System I (33.78% v 51.67%, respectively; P = .05). System II, compared with System I, had fewer inaccuracies in documenting date of diagnosis (9.68% v 25.35%, respectively; P = .01) and had less missing information for dose of radiation delivered (9.33% v 33.9%, respectively; P \u3c .01). CONCLUSION:: A multidisciplinary team approach to drafting and reviewing SCP-TS documents improved content accuracy for our program, but ongoing education regarding documentation of various surgical procedures is warranted

Evaluation of a Multidisciplinary Team Approach for Generating Survivorship Care Plan Treatment Summaries in Patients With Breast Cancer

INTRODUCTION: The optimal structure for survivorship care plan (SCP) programs and methodology for generating treatment summaries (TSs) has not yet been defined, but the Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers both mandate that participating oncology programs implement SCP-TS processes for patients that have completed treatment. METHODS: We used the Institute for Healthcare Improvement\u27s Plan-Do-Study-Act model for conducting a quality improvement project evaluating two different SCP-TS programs implemented at the Henry Ford Health System/Henry Ford Cancer Institute\u27s Breast Oncology Program in Detroit, Michigan. System I involved TSs drafted by nonspecialist breast clinic staff; System II involved TSs vetted through a multidisciplinary breast specialist conference approach. Accuracy of basic documentation entries related to dates and components of treatment were compared for the two approaches. RESULTS: Seventy-one System I and 93 System II documents were reviewed. Documentation was accurate in at least 90% of documents for both systems regarding delivery of chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy and for documenting the identity of the various members of the cancer treatment team. Both systems had notable inaccuracies in documenting type of surgery performed, but System II had fewer inaccuracies than System I (33.78% v 51.67%, respectively; P = .05). System II, compared with System I, had fewer inaccuracies in documenting date of diagnosis (9.68% v 25.35%, respectively; P = .01) and had less missing information for dose of radiation delivered (9.33% v 33.9%, respectively; P \u3c .01). CONCLUSION: A multidisciplinary team approach to drafting and reviewing SCP-TS documents improved content accuracy for our program, but ongoing education regarding documentation of various surgical procedures is warranted