Exploring wind direction and SO2 concentration by circular-linear density estimation

The study of environmental problems usually requires the description of variables with different nature and the assessment of relations between them. In this work, an algorithm for flexible estimation of the joint density for a circular-linear variable is proposed. The method is applied for exploring the relation between wind direction and SO2 concentration in a monitoring station close to a power plant located in Galicia (NW-Spain), in order to compare the effectiveness of precautionary measures for pollutants reduction in two different years.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

The Physical Projector and Topological Quantum Field Theories: U(1) Chern-Simons Theory in 2+1 Dimensions

The recently proposed physical projector approach to the quantisation of gauge invariant systems is applied to the U(1) Chern-Simons theory in 2+1 dimensions as one of the simplest examples of a topological quantum field theory. The physical projector is explicitely demonstrated to be capable of effecting the required projection from the initially infinite number of degrees of freedom to the finite set of gauge invariant physical states whose properties are determined by the topology of the underlying manifold.Comment: 24 pages, no figures, plain LaTeX file; one more reference added. Final version to appear in Jour. Phys.

Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound relative to surgical staging in potentially resectable lung cancer: results from the ASTER randomised controlled trial

Copyright @ Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2012. This work was produced by Sharples et al. under the terms of a commissioning contract issued by the Secretary of State for Health.Objective: To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of endosonography (followed by surgical staging if endosonography was negative), compared with standard surgical staging alone, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are otherwise candidates for surgery with curative intent. Design: A prospective, international, open-label, randomised controlled study, with a trialbased economic analysis. Setting: Four centres: Ghent University Hospital, Belgium; Leuven University Hospitals,Belgium; Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands; and Papworth Hospital, UK. Participants: Inclusion criteria: known/suspected NSCLC, with suspected mediastinal lymph node involvement; otherwise eligible for surgery with curative intent; clinically fit for endosonography and surgery; and no evidence of metastatic disease. Exclusion criteria: previous lung cancer treatment; concurrent malignancy; uncorrected coagulopathy; and not suitable for surgical staging. Interventions: Study patients were randomised to either surgical staging alone (n = 118) or endosonography followed by surgical staging if endosonography was negative (n = 123). Endosonography diagnostic strategy used endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration combined with endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration, followed by surgical staging if these tests were negative. Patients with no evidence of mediastinal metastases or tumour invasion were referred for surgery with curative intent. If evidence of malignancy was found, patients were referred for chemoradiotherapy. Main outcome measures: The main clinical outcomes were sensitivity (positive diagnostic test/nodal involvement during any diagnostic test or thoracotomy) and negative predictive value (NPV) of each diagnostic strategy for the detection of N2/N3 metastases, unnecessary thoracotomy and complication rates. The primary economic outcome was cost–utility of the endosonography strategy compared with surgical staging alone, up to 6 months after randomisation, from a UK NHS perspective. Results: Clinical and resource-use data were available for all 241 patients, and complete utilities were available for 144. Sensitivity for detecting N2/N3 metastases was 79% [41/52; 95% confidence interval (CI) 66% to 88%] for the surgical arm compared with 94% (62/66; 95% CI 85% to 98%) for the endosonography strategy (p = 0.02). Corresponding NPVs were 86% (66/77; 95% CI 76% to 92%) and 93% (57/61; 95% CI 84% to 97%; p = 0.26). There were 21/118 (18%) unnecessary thoracotomies in the surgical arm compared with 9/123 (7%) in the endosonography arm (p = 0.02). Complications occurred in 7/118 (6%) in the surgical arm and 6/123 (5%) in the endosonography arm (p = 0.78): one pneumothorax related to endosonography and 12 complications related to surgical staging. Patients in the endosonography arm had greater EQ-5D (European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions) utility at the end of staging (0.117; 95% CI 0.042 to 0.192; p = 0.003). There were no other significant differences in utility. The main difference in resource use was the number of thoracotomies: 66% patients in the surgical arm compared with 53% in the endosonography arm. Resource use was similar between the groups in all other items. The 6-month cost of the endosonography strategy was £9713 (95% CI £7209 to £13,307) per patient versus £10,459 (£7732 to £13,890) for the surgical arm, mean difference £746 (95% CI –£756 to £2494). The mean difference in quality-adjusted life-year was 0.015 (95% CI –0.023 to 0.052) in favour of endosonography, so this strategy was cheaper and more effective. Conclusions: Endosonography (followed by surgical staging if negative) had higher sensitivity and NPVs, resulted in fewer unnecessary thoracotomies and better quality of life during staging, and was slightly more effective and less expensive than surgical staging alone. Future work could investigate the need for confirmatory mediastinoscopy following negative endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA), the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA or EBUS-TBNA separately and the delivery of both EUSFNA or EBUS-TBNA by suitably trained chest physicians.This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programm

A Study of the Quasi-elastic (e,e'p) Reaction on 12^{12}C, 56^{56}Fe and 97^{97}Au

We report the results from a systematic study of the quasi-elastic (e,e'p) reaction on $^{12}$C, $^{56}$Fe and $^{197}$Au performed at Jefferson Lab. We have measured nuclear transparency and extracted spectral functions (corrected for radiation) over a Q$^2$ range of 0.64 - 3.25 (GeV/c)$^2$ for all three nuclei. In addition we have extracted separated longitudinal and transverse spectral functions at Q$^2$ of 0.64 and 1.8 (GeV/c)$^2$ for these three nuclei (except for $^{197}$Au at the higher Q$^2$). The spectral functions are compared to a number of theoretical calculations. The measured spectral functions differ in detail but not in overall shape from most of the theoretical models. In all three targets the measured spectral functions show considerable excess transverse strength at Q$^2$ = 0.64 (GeV/c)$^2$, which is much reduced at 1.8 (GeV/c)$^2$.Comment: For JLab E91013 Collaboration, 19 pages, 20 figures, 3 table

Measurement of Angular Distributions and R= sigma_L/sigma_T in Diffractive Electroproduction of rho^0 Mesons

Production and decay angular distributions were extracted from measurements of exclusive electroproduction of the rho^0(770) meson over a range in the virtual photon negative four-momentum squared 0.5< Q^2 <4 GeV^2 and the photon-nucleon invariant mass range 3.8< W <6.5 GeV. The experiment was performed with the HERMES spectrometer, using a longitudinally polarized positron beam and a ^3He gas target internal to the HERA e^{+-} storage ring. The event sample combines rho^0 mesons produced incoherently off individual nucleons and coherently off the nucleus as a whole. The distributions in one production angle and two angles describing the rho^0 -> pi+ pi- decay yielded measurements of eight elements of the spin-density matrix, including one that had not been measured before. The results are consistent with the dominance of helicity-conserving amplitudes and natural parity exchange. The improved precision achieved at 47 GeV, reveals evidence for an energy dependence in the ratio R of the longitudinal to transverse cross sections at constant Q^2.Comment: 15 pages, 15 embedded figures, LaTeX for SVJour(epj) document class Revision: Fig. 15 corrected, recent data added to Figs. 10,12,14,15; minor changes to tex

Older patients' attitudes towards and experiences of patient-physician end-of-life communication: a secondary analysis of interviews from British, Dutch and Belgian patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Older patients often experience sub-standard communication in the palliative phase of illness. Due to the importance of good communication in patient-centred end-of-life care, it is essential to understand the factors which influence older patients’ communication with physicians. This study examines older patients’ attitudes towards, and experiences of, patient-physician end-of-life (EoL) communication in three European countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A secondary analysis of interviews from British, Dutch and Belgian patients over the age of 60 with a progressive terminal illness was conducted. Cross-cutting themes were identified using a thematic approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Themes from 30 interviews (Male n = 20, Median age 78.5) included: confidence and trust; disclosure and awareness; and participation in decision-making. Confidence and trust were reinforced by physicians’ availability, time and genuine attention and hindered by misdiagnoses and poor communication style. Most participants preferred full disclosure, though some remained deliberately ill-informed to avoid distress. Patients expressed a variety of preferences for and experiences of involvement in medical EoL decision-making and a few complained that information was only provided about the physician's preferred treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A variety of experiences and attitudes regarding disclosure and participation in decision-making were reported from each country, suggesting that communication preferences are highly individual. It is important that physicians are sensitive to this diversity and avoid stereotyping. In regard to communication style, physicians are advised to provide clear explanations, avoid jargon, and continually check understanding. Both the ‘informed’ and the ‘shared’ patient-physician decision-making models assume patients make rational choices based on a clear understanding of treatment options. This idealized situation was often not reflected in patients’ experiences.</p

Euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions: a mortality follow-back study in Belgium

BACKGROUND: This study compares prevalence and types of medical end-of-life decisions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities of Belgium. This is the first nationwide study that can make these comparisons and the first measurement after implementation of the euthanasia law (2002). METHODS: We performed a mortality follow-back study in 2005-2006. Data were collected via the nationwide Sentinel Network of General Practitioners, an epidemiological surveillance system representative of all Belgian GPs.Weekly, all GPs reported the medical end-of-life decisions among all non-sudden deaths of patients in their practice. We compared the northern Dutch-speaking (60%) and southern French-speaking communities (40%) controlling for population differences. RESULTS: We analysed 1690 non-sudden deaths. An end-of-life decision with possible life-shortening effect was made in 50% of patients in the Dutch-speaking community and 41% of patients in the French-speaking community (OR 1.4; 95%CI, 1.2 to 1.8). Continuous deep sedation until death occurred in 8% and 15% respectively (OR 0.5; 95%CI, 0.4 to 0.7). Community differences regarding the prevalence of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide were not significant.Community differences were more present among home/care home than among hospital deaths: non-treatment decisions with explicit life-shortening intention were made more often in the Dutch-speaking than in the French-speaking community settings (OR 2.2; 95%CI, 1.2 to 3.9); while continuous deep sedation occurred less often in the Dutch-speaking community settings (OR 0.5; 95%CI, 0.3 to 0.9). CONCLUSION: Even though legal and general healthcare systems are the same for the whole country, there are considerable variations between the communities in type and prevalence of certain end-of-life decisions, even after controlling for population difference

Measurement of the neutron magnetic form factor from inclusive quasielastic scattering of polarized electrons from polarized 3He

We report a measurement of the asymmetry in spin-dependent quasielastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from a polarized 3He target. The neutron magnetic form factor GMn has been extracted from the measured asymmetry based on recent PWIA calculations using spin-dependent spectral functions. Our determination of GMn at Q2=0.19 (GeV/c)2 agrees with the dipole parametrization. This experiment represents the first measurement of the neutron magnetic form factor using spin-dependent electron scattering

The ACA training programme to improve communication between general practitioners and their palliative care patients: development and applicability

<p>Abstract</p> <p>We describe the development of a new training programme on GP-patient communication in palliative care, and the applicability to GPs and GP Trainees. This ‘ACA training programme’ focuses on <b> <it>A</it> </b><it>vailability</it> of the GP for the patient, <b> <it>C</it> </b><it>urrent issues</it> that should be raised by the GP, and <b> <it>A</it> </b><it>nticipating</it> various scenarios. Evaluation results indicate the ACA training programme to be applicable to GPs and GP Trainees. The ACA checklist was appreciated by GPs as useful both in practice and as a learning tool, whereas GP Trainees mainly appreciated the list for use in practice.</p