2,896 research outputs found
Measurement and correlates of empathy among female Japanese physicians.
BACKGROUND: The measurement of empathy is important in the assessment of physician competence and patient outcomes. The prevailing view is that female physicians have higher empathy scores compared with male physicians. In Japan, the number of female physicians has increased rapidly in the past ten years. In this study, we focused on female Japanese physicians and addressed factors that were associated with their empathic engagement in patient care.
METHODS: The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was translated into Japanese by using the back-translation procedure, and was administered to 285 female Japanese physicians. We designed this study to examine the psychometrics of the JSE and group differences among female Japanese physicians.
RESULTS: The item-total score correlations of the JSE were all positive and statistically significant, ranging from .20 to .54, with a median of .41. The Cronbach\u27s coefficient alpha was .81. Female physicians who were practicing in people-oriented specialties obtained a significantly higher mean empathy score than their counterparts in procedure- or technology-oriented specialties. In addition, physicians who reported living with their parents in an extended family or living close to their parents, scored higher on the JSE than those who were living alone or in a nuclear family.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide support for the measurement property and reliability of the JSE in a sample of female Japanese physicians. The observed group differences associated with specialties and living arrangement may have implications for sustaining empathy. In addition, recognizing these factors that reinforce physicians\u27 empathy may help physicians to avoid career burnout
VLBI and Single Dish Monitoring of 3C84 in the Period of 2009-2011
The radio galaxy 3C 84 is a representative of gamma-ray-bright misaligned
active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and one of the best laboratories to study the
radio properties of the sub-pc jet in connection with the gamma-ray emission.
In order to identify possible radio counterparts of the gamma-ray emissions in
3C 84, we study the change in structure within the central 1 pc and the light
curve of sub-pc-size components C1, C2, and C3. We search for any correlation
between changes in the radio components and the gamma-ray flares by making use
of VLBI and single dish data. Throughout the radio monitoring spanning over two
GeV gamma-ray flares detected by the {\it Fermi}-LAT and the MAGIC Cherenkov
Telescope in the periods of 2009 April to May and 2010 June to August, total
flux density in radio band increases on average. This flux increase mostly
originates in C3. Although the gamma-ray flares span on the timescale of days
to weeks, no clear correlation with the radio light curve on this timescale is
found. Any new prominent components and change in morphology associated with
the gamma-ray flares are not found on the VLBI images.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS lette
Dewetting of thin films on heterogeneous substrates: Pinning vs. coarsening
We study a model for a thin liquid film dewetting from a periodic
heterogeneous substrate (template). The amplitude and periodicity of a striped
template heterogeneity necessary to obtain a stable periodic stripe pattern,
i.e. pinning, are computed. This requires a stabilization of the longitudinal
and transversal modes driving the typical coarsening dynamics during dewetting
of a thin film on a homogeneous substrate. If the heterogeneity has a larger
spatial period than the critical dewetting mode, weak heterogeneities are
sufficient for pinning. A large region of coexistence between coarsening
dynamics and pinning is found.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Templeting of Thin Films Induced by Dewetting on Patterned Surfaces
The instability, dynamics and morphological transitions of patterns in thin
liquid films on periodic striped surfaces (consisting of alternating less and
more wettable stripes) are investigated based on 3-D nonlinear simulations that
account for the inter-site hydrodynamic and surface-energetic interactions. The
film breakup is suppressed on some potentially destabilizing nonwettable sites
when their spacing is below a characteristic lengthscale of the instability,
the upper bound for which is close to the spinodal lengthscale. The thin film
pattern replicates the substrate surface energy pattern closely only when, (a)
the periodicity of substrate pattern matches closely with the characteristic
lengthscale, and (b) the stripe-width is within a range bounded by a lower
critical length, below which no heterogeneous rupture occurs, and an upper
transition length above which complex morphological features bearing little
resemblance to the substrate pattern are formed.Comment: 5 pages TeX (REVTeX 4), other comments: submitted to Phys. Rev.Let
Thermocapillary actuation of liquid flow on chemically patterned surfaces
We have investigated the thermocapillary flow of a Newtonian liquid on hydrophilic microstripes which are lithographically defined on a hydrophobic surface. The speed of the microstreams is studied as a function of the stripe width w, the applied thermal gradient |dT/dx| and the liquid volume V deposited on a connecting reservoir pad. Numerical solutions of the flow speed as a function of downstream position show excellent agreement with experiment. The only adjustable parameter is the inlet film height, which is controlled by the ratio of the reservoir pressure to the shear stress applied to the liquid stream. In the limiting cases where this ratio is either much smaller or much larger than unity, the rivulet speed shows a power law dependency on w, |dT/dx| and V. In this study we demonstrate that thermocapillary driven flow on chemically patterned surfaces can provide an elegant and tunable method for the transport of ultrasmall liquid volumes in emerging microfluidic technologies
Measurements of Branching Fractions and Polarization in B > K^* rho Decays
We present results of a study of the charmless vector-vector decays B^0 ->
K^{*0} rho^0 and B^+ ->K^{*0} rho^+. The results are based on a 140 fb^{-1}
data sample collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^-
collider. We obtain the branching fraction B(B^+ -> K^{*0} rho^+)=(6.6 +-
2.2(stat.) +- 0.8 (syst.)) x 10^{-6}, and set upper limits on the branching
fractions B(B^0 -> K^{*0} rho^0) f_0(980)
K^{*0})<5.2 x 10^{-6}. We also perform a helicity analysis of the rho and K^*
vector mesons in the decay B^+ -> K^{*0} rho^+, and obtain the longitudinal
polarization fraction R_0(B^+ -> K^{*0} rho^+)=0.50 +-
0.19(stat.)+0.05-0.07}(syst.).Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ICHEP04, Beijing, Chin
Expressing oneâs feelings and listening to others increases emotional intelligence: a pilot study of Asian medical students
<p>Background: There has been considerable interest in Emotional Intelligence (EI) in undergraduate medical education, with respect to student selection and admissions, health and well-being and academic performance. EI is a significant component of the physician-patient relationship. The emotional well-being of the physician is, therefore, a significant component in patient care. The aim is to examine the measurement of TEIQue-SF in Asian medical students and to explore how the practice of listening to the feelings of others and expressing oneâs own feelings influences an individualâs EI, set in the context of the emotional well-being of a medical practitioner.</p>
<p>Methods: A group of 183 international undergraduate medical students attended a half-day workshop (WS) about mental-health and well-being. They completed a self-reported measure of EI on three occasions, pre- and post-workshop, and a 1-year follow-up.</p>
<p>Result: The reliability of TEIQue-SF was high and the reliabilities of its four factors were acceptable. There were strong correlations between the TEIQue-SF and personality traits. A paired t-test indicated significant positive changes after the WS for all students (n=181, p=â.014), male students (n=78, p=â.015) and non-Japanese students (n=112, p=â.007), but a repeated measures analysis showed that one year post-workshop there were significant positive changes for all students (n=55, p=â.034), female students (n=31, p=â.007), especially Japanese female students (n=13, p=â.023). Moreover, 80% of the students reported that they were more attentive listeners, and 60% agreed that they were more confident in dealing with emotional issues, both within themselves and in others, as a result of the workshop.</p>
<p>Conclusion: This study found the measurement of TEIQue-SF is appropriate and reliable to use for Asian medical students. The mental health workshop was helpful to develop medical studentsâ EI but showed different results for gender and nationality. The immediate impact on the emotional awareness of individuals was particularly significant for male students and the non-Japanese group. The impact over the long term was notable for the significant increase in EI for females and Japanese. Japanese female students were more conscious about emotionality. Emotion-driven communication exercises might strongly influence the development of studentsâ EI over a year.</p>
Improved measurement of time-dependent CP violation in B0 -> J/Psi pi0 decays
We report improved measurements of time-dependent CP violation parameters for
decay. This analysis is based on 535 million
pairs accumulated at the resonance with the Belle
detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+e^- collider. From the distribution
of proper time intervals between the two B decays, we obtain the following CP
violation parameters and , which are consistent with Standard Model
expectations.Comment: Resubmitted to PRD(RC), including 4 figures, 6pages Revision has been
made according to communication with PRD referee
Measurement of the branching fractions for B- --> D(*)+ pi- l- nu-bar and B0bar --> D(*)0 pi+ l- nu-bar
We report on a measurement of the branching fractions for B- --> D(*)+ pi- l-
nu-bar and B0bar --> D(*)0 pi+ l- nu-bar with 275 million BBbar events
collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at KEKB. Events
are tagged by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in hadronic modes. We
obtain Br(B- --> D+ pi- l- nu-bar) = (0.54 +/- 0.07(stat) +/- 0.07(syst) +/-
0.06(BR)) x 10^-2, Br(B- --> D*+ pi- l- nu-bar) = (0.67 +/- 0.11(stat) +/-
0.09(syst) +/- 0.03(BR)) x 10^-2, Br(B0bar --> D0 pi+ l- nu-bar) = (0.33 +/-
0.06(stat) +/- 0.06(syst) +/- 0.03(BR)) x 10^-2, Br(B0bar --> D*0 pi+ l-
nu-bar) = (0.65 +/- 0.12(stat) +/- 0.08(syst) +/- 0.05(BR)) x 10^-2, where the
third error comes from the error on Bbar --> D(*) l- nu-bar decays.
Contributions from B0bar --> D*+ l- nu-bar decays are excluded in the
measurement of B0bar --> D0 pi+ l- nu-bar.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review D (Rapid
Communication), the Lepton-Photon 2005 Conference (Uppsala, Sweden) and the
HEP2005 Europhysics Conference (Lisboa, Portugal
Study of CP Violating Effects in Time Dependent Decays
We report measurements of time dependent decay rates for decays and extraction of CP violation parameters
containing . Using fully reconstructed events from a data sample collected at the resonance, we obtain
the CP violation parameters for and decays, , where is
the ratio of the magnitudes of the doubly-Cabibbo-suppressed and
Cabibbo-favoured amplitudes, and is the strong phase
difference between them. Under the assumption of being
close to either 0 or , we obtain and .Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Physical Review Letter
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