A Refinement of Jensen's Discrete Inequality for Differentiable Convex Functions

A refinement of Jensen’s discrete inequality and applications for the celebrated Arithmetic Mean – Geometric Mean – Harmonc Mean inequality and Cauchy-Schwartz-Bunikowski inequality are pointed out

Severe and moderate seasonal influenza epidemics among Italian healthcare workers: A comparison of the excess of absenteeism

Background: This study aims to quantify the excess of sickness absenteeism among healthcare workers (HCWs), to estimate the impact of a severe versus moderate influenza season and to determine whether the vaccination rates are associated with reduced sickness absence. Methods: We investigated the excess absenteeism that occurred in a large Italian hospital, 5300 HCWs, during the severe influenza season of 2017/2018 and compared it with three moderate flu seasons (2010/2013). Data on influenza vaccinations and absenteeism were obtained from the hospital's databases. The data were split into two periods: the epidemic, from 42 to 17 weeks, and non-epidemic, defined as 18 to 41 weeks, which was used as the baseline. We stratified the absenteeism among HCWs in multiple variables. Results: Our study showed an increased absenteeism among HCWs during the epidemic period of severe season in comparison with non-epidemic periods, the absolute increase correlated with a relative increase of 70% (from 4.05 to 6.68 days/person). Vaccinated HCWs had less excess of absenteeism in comparison with non-vaccinated HCWs (1.74 vs 2.71 days/person). The comparison with the moderate seasons showed a stronger impact on HCW sick absenteeism in the severe season (+0.747days/person, P =.03), especially among nurses and HCWs in contact with patients (+1.53 P <.01; +1.19 P <.01). Conclusions: In conclusion, a severe influenza epidemic has greater impacts on the absenteeism among HCWs than a moderate one. Although at a low rate, a positive effect of vaccination on absenteeism is present, it may support healthcare facilities to recommend vaccinations for their workers

Severe and moderate seasonal influenza epidemics among Italian healthcare workers: A comparison of the excess of absenteeism

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Transmission properties in waveguides: An optical streamline analysis

A novel approach to study transmission through waveguides in terms of optical streamlines is presented. This theoretical framework combines the computational performance of beam propagation methods with the possibility to monitor the passage of light through the guiding medium by means of these sampler paths. In this way, not only the optical flow along the waveguide can be followed in detail, but also a fair estimate of the transmitted light (intensity) can be accounted for by counting streamline arrivals with starting points statistically distributed according to the input pulse. Furthermore, this approach allows to elucidate the mechanism leading to energy losses, namely a vortical dynamics, which can be advantageously exploited in optimal waveguide design.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Estimation of sickness absenteeism among Italian healthcare workers during seasonal influenza epidemics

Analysis of absenteeism among healthcare workers (HCWs) at a large Italian hospital, and estimation of the increase in absenteeism that occurred during seasonal flu periods