The association of types of training and practice settings with doctors’ empathy and patient enablement among patients with chronic illness in Hong Kong

Background: The increase in non-communicable disease (NCD) is becoming a global health problem and there is an increasing need for primary care doctors to look after these patients although whether family doctors are adequately trained and prepared is unknown. Objective: This study aimed to determine if doctors with family medicine (FM) training are associated with enhanced empathy in consultation and enablement for patients with chronic illness as compared to doctors with internal medicine training or without any postgraduate training in different clinic settings. Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey using the validated Chinese version of the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure as well as Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) for evaluation of quality and outcome of care. 14 doctors from hospital specialist clinics (7 with family medicine training, and 7 with internal medicine training) and 13 doctors from primary care clinics (7 with family medicine training, and 6 without specialist training) were recruited. In total, they consulted 823 patients with chronic illness. The CARE Measure and PEI scores were compared amongst doctors in these clinics with different training background: family medicine training, internal medicine training and those without specialist training. Generalized estimation equation (GEE) was used to account for cluster effects of patients nested with doctors. <b>Results</b> Within similar clinic settings, FM trained doctors had higher CARE score than doctors with no FM training. In hospital clinics, the difference of the mean CARE score for doctors who had family medicine training (39.2, SD = 7.04) and internal medicine training (35.5, SD = 8.92) was statistically significant after adjusting for consultation time and gender of the patient. In the community care clinics, the mean CARE score for doctors with family medicine training and those without specialist training were 32.1 (SD = 7.95) and 29.2 (SD = 7.43) respectively, but the difference was not found to be significant. For PEI, patients receiving care from doctors in the hospital clinics scored significantly higher than those in the community clinics, but there was no significant difference in PEI between patients receiving care from doctors with different training backgrounds within similar clinic setting. Conclusion: Family medicine training was associated with higher patient perceived empathy for chronic illness patients in the hospital clinics. Patient enablement appeared to be associated with clinic settings but not doctors’ training background. Training in family medicine and a clinic environment that enables more patient doctor time might help in enhancing doctors’ empathy and enablement for chronic illness patients

Discovery learning approach to classic electrical machines principles

This paper aims at presenting the concept of Socratic interactions and discovery learning of classic electrical machines principles. The theories of electrical machines are by nature quite boring and abstract although there are a lot of experiments supported the theories. Traditional, students learnt the subject by drill and practice approach with standard textbooks. In the past two decades, computer is no doubt recognized to be the educational tool. The so-called “interactive” approach is applied to the learning process. Most of this approach applied to various subjects in different levels is mainly based on drill and practice. However, few packages are developed for electrical machine subject. In this paper, two different approaches “Rote Learning” and “Discovery Learning” applied to the interactive computer aided learning package of classic electric machine principles are discussed. Design of a discovery learning approach will also be presented

Chromomagnetism in nuclear matter

Quarks are color charged particles. Due to their motion there is a strong possibility of generation of color magnetic field. It is shown that however hadrons are color singlet particles they may have non-zero color magnetic moment. Due to this color magnetic moment hadrons can show color interaction. In this paper we have studied the chromomagnetic properties of nuclear matter.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Int. J. Theor. Phy

Energy Losses (Gains) of Massive Coloured Particles in Stochastic Colour Medium

The propagation of massive coloured particles in stochastic background chromoelectric field is studied using the semiclassical equations of motion. Depending on the nature of the stochastic background we obtain the formulae for the energy losses of heavy coloured projectile in nonperturbative hadronic medium and for the energy gains in the stochastic field present, e.g., in the turbulent plasma. The result appears to be significantly dependent on the form of the correlation function of stochastic external fieldComment: 9 pages, BI-TP 94/15, plain LaTe

Compromising building regulations and user expectations in the design of high-rise domestic kitchens

Purpose ??? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance and relevance of social and habitual behaviours of home occupants to the building design process. It argues that introducing quantitative measures such as daylight level alone may not result in a ???healthy and functional??? kitchen without appreciating or factoring-in the impacts of the social roles and user expectations of kitchens in high-rise and compact urban situations.\ud Design/methodology/approach ??? The study investigated three common types of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. Case studies suggested that it is crucial to include in a design process proper considerations of human behaviours byway of preferred approaches andmodes of living, space usage, and weightings of end-user responses that would influence architectural design in a direct and crucial way.\ud Findings ??? The study noted that daylight quality of a kitchen is perceived by most families to be not as important as building control officials and designers thought it would. Instead, it is found that social and cultural factors are more important parameters for users. The study observed that designers rely on physical and quantitative approaches such as daylight factor, window size and window-to-room area ratio to qualify a design solution and ignore the socio-cultural parameters.\ud Originality/value ??? The paper calls for designers and building control officials to incorporate the study of functionality and socio-cultural preferences of users groups in the building design process. The study envisages that an integrated design methodology would enhance the living environment

A lightweight ground penetrating radar

The detection of buried objects, particularly unexploded ordnance (UXO), has gained significant interest in the US in the late 1990s. The desire to remediate the thousands of sites worldwide has become an increasing humanitarian concern. The application of radar to this problem has received renewed attention. Bechtel Nevada, Special Technologies Laboratory (STL) has developed several frequency modulated, continuous wave (FM-CW) ground penetrating radar (GPR) units for the US Department of Energy since 1984. To meet these new technical requirements for high resolution data and UXO detection, STL is moving forward with advances to GPR technology, signal processing, and imaging with the development of an innovative system. The goal is to design and fabricate a lightweight, battery operated unit that does not require surface contact and can be operated by a novice user