247 research outputs found
Measurement of the Parallax of PSR B0950+08 Using the VLBA
A new technique has been developed to remove the ionosphere's distorting
effects from low frequency VLBI data. By fitting dispersive and non-dispersive
components to the phases of multi-frequency data, the ionosphere can be
effectively removed from the data without the use of {\em a priori} calibration
information. This technique, along with the new gating capability of the VLBA
correlator, was used to perform accurate astrometry on pulsar B0950+08,
resulting in a much improved measurement of this pulsar's proper motion
( mas/yr, mas/yr)
and parallax ( mas). This puts the pulsar at a distance of
parsecs, about twice as far as previous estimates, but in good
agreement with models of the electron density in the local bubble.Comment: 5 pages, Latex with AASTEX. Accepted for publication in Ap
The Missouri soil saving dam : low-cost structure for use in farm plans for water management
Cover title."A revision of Bulletin 434" -- P. [3]
The Missouri soil saving dam : low-cost structure for use in farm plans for water management
Cover title
Frequent use of paracetamol and risk of allergic disease among women in an Ethiopian population
Introduction
The hypothesis that paracetamol might increase the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases have gained support from a range of independent studies. However, in studies based in developed countries, the possibility that paracetamol and asthma are associated through aspirin avoidance is difficult to exclude.
Objectives
To explore this hypothesis among women in a developing country, where we have previously reported aspirin avoidance to be rare.
Methods
In 2005/6 a population based cohort of 1065 pregnant women was established in Butajira, Ethiopia and baseline demographic data collected. At 3 years post birth, an interview-based questionnaire administered to 945 (94%) of these women collected data on asthma, eczema, and hay fever in the past 12 month, frequency of paracetamol use and potential confounders. Allergen skin tests to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and cockroach were also performed. The independent effects of paracetamol use on allergic outcomes were determined using multiple logistic regression analysis.
Findings
The prevalence of asthma, eczema and hay fever was 1.7%, 0.9% and 3.8% respectively; of any one of these conditions 5.5%, and of allergen sensitization 7.8%. Paracetamol use in the past month was reported by 29%, and associations of borderline significance were seen for eczema (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 8.51 (1.68 to 43.19) for 1â3 tablets and 2.19 (0.36 to 13.38) for â„4 tablets, compared to no tablets in the past month; overall p = 0.055) and for âany allergic conditionâ (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 2.73 (1.22 to 6.11) for 1â3 tablets and 1.35 (0.67 to 2.70) for â„4 tablets compared to 0 in the past month; overall p = 0.071).
Conclusions
This study provides further cross-sectional evidence that paracetamol use increases the risk of allergic disease
Effect of thermal phase fluctuations on the superfluid density of two-dimensional superconducting films
High precision measurements of the complex sheet conductivity of
superconducting Mo77Ge23 thin films have been made from 0.4 K through Tc. A
sharp drop in the inverse sheet inductance, 1/L(T), is observed at a
temperature, Tc, which lies below the mean-field transition temperature, Tco.
Just below Tc, the suppression of 1/L(T) below its mean-field value indicates
that longitudinal phase fluctuations have nearly their full classical
amplitude, but they disappear rapidly as T decreases. We argue that there is a
quantum crossover at about 0.94 Tco, below which classical phase fluctuations
are suppressed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Subm. to PR
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Approaches and challenges to optimising primary care teamsâ electronic health record usage
Background Although the presence of an electronic health record (EHR) alone does not ensure high quality, efficient care, few studies have focused on the work of those charged with optimising use of existing EHR functionality.Objective To examine the approaches used and challenges perceived by analysts supporting the optimisation of primary care teamsâ EHR use at a large U.S. academic health care system.Methods A qualitative study was conducted. Optimisation analysts and their supervisor were interviewed and data were analysed for themes.Results Analysts needed to reconcile the tension created by organisational mandates focused on the standardisation of EHR processes with the primary care teamsâ demand for EHR customisation. They gained an understanding of health information technology (HIT) leadershipâs and primary care teamâs goals through attending meetings, reading meeting minutes and visiting with clinical teams. Within what was organisationally possible, EHR education could then be tailored to fit team needs. Major challenges were related to organisational attempts to standardise EHR use despite varied clinic contexts, personnel readiness and technical issues with the EHR platform. Forcing standardisation upon clinical needs that current EHR functionality could not satisfy was difficult.Conclusions Dedicated optimisation analysts can add value to health systems through playing a mediating role between HIT leadership and care teams. Our findings imply that EHR optimisation should be performed with an in-depth understanding of the workflow, cognitive and interactional activities in primary care
Protecting healing relationships in the age of electronic health records: report from an international conference
We present findings of an international conference of diverse participants exploring the influence of electronic health records (EHRs) on the patient-practitioner relationship. Attendees united around a belief in the primacy of this relationship and the importance of undistracted attention. They explored administrative, regulatory, and financial requirements that have guided United States (US) EHR design and challenged patient-care documentation, usability, user satisfaction, interconnectivity, and data sharing. The United States experience was contrasted with those of other nations, many of which have prioritized patient-care documentation rather than billing requirements and experienced high user satisfaction. Conference participants examined educational methods to teach diverse learners effective patient-centered EHR use, including alternative models of care delivery and documentation, and explored novel ways to involve patients as healthcare partners like health-data uploading, chart co-creation, shared practitioner notes, applications, and telehealth. Future best practices must preserve human relationships, while building an effective patient-practitioner (or team)-EHR triad
Electronic Health Record Functionality Needed to Better Support Primary Care
Electronic health records (EHRs) must support primary care clinicians and patients, yet many clinicians remain dissatisfied with their system. This manuscript presents a consensus statement about gaps in current EHR functionality and needed enhancements to support primary care. The Institute of Medicine primary care attributes were used to define needs and Meaningful Use (MU) objectives to define EHR functionality. Current objectives remain disease- rather than whole-person focused, ignoring factors like personal risks, behaviors, family structure, and occupational and environmental influences. Primary care needs EHRs to move beyond documentation to interpreting and tracking information over time as well as patient partnering activities, support for team based care, population management tools that deliver care, and reduced documentation burden. While Stage 3 MUâs focus on outcomes is laudable, enhanced functionality is still needed including EHR modifications, expanded use of patient portals, seamless integration with external applications, and advancement of national infrastructure and policies
Hubble Space Telescope survey of the Perseus Cluster -III: The effect of local environment on dwarf galaxies
We present the results of a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) study of dwarf
galaxies in the outer regions of the nearby rich Perseus Cluster, down to M_V =
-12, and compare these with the dwarf population in the cluster core from our
previous HST imaging. In this paper we examine how properties such as the
colour magnitude relation, structure and morphology are affected by environment
for the lowest mass galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are excellent tracers of the
effects of environment due to their low masses, allowing us to derive their
environmentally based evolution, which is more subtle in more massive galaxies.
We identify 11 dwarf elliptical (dE) and dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies in
the outer regions of Perseus, all of which are previously unstudied. We measure
the (V-I)_0 colours of our newly discovered dEs, and find that these dwarfs lie
on the same red sequence as those in the cluster core. The morphologies of
these dwarfs are examined by quantifying their light distributions using CAS
parameters, and we find that dEs in the cluster outskirts are on average more
disturbed than those in the core, with =0.13\pm0.09 and =0.18\pm0.08,
compared to =0.02\pm0.04, =0.01\pm0.07 for those in the core. Based on
these results, we infer that these objects are ``transition dwarfs'', likely in
the process of transforming from late-type to early type galaxies as they
infall into the cluster, with their colours transforming before their
structures. When we compare the number counts for both the core and outer
regions of the cluster, we find that below M_V = -12, the counts in the outer
regions of the cluster exceed those in the core. This is evidence that in the
very dense region of the cluster, dwarfs are unable to survive unless they are
sufficiently massive to prevent their disruption by the cluster potential and
interactions with other galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. MNRAS accepte
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