499 research outputs found
Generating Permutations with Restricted Containers
We investigate a generalization of stacks that we call
-machines. We show how this viewpoint rapidly leads to functional
equations for the classes of permutations that -machines generate,
and how these systems of functional equations can frequently be solved by
either the kernel method or, much more easily, by guessing and checking.
General results about the rationality, algebraicity, and the existence of
Wilfian formulas for some classes generated by -machines are
given. We also draw attention to some relatively small permutation classes
which, although we can generate thousands of terms of their enumerations, seem
to not have D-finite generating functions
Recommended from our members
Mothers Involved in Research Agenda Setting: Report of the MIRAS project
Measuring Transport Resilience: A Manawatu-Wanganui Region Case Study
The resilience of transport networks is attracting greater scrutiny at the international,
national and sub-national levels. This research report explores the current state of
knowledge about measuring transport resilience and presents a case study to address the
question is: How resilient is the road and rail infrastructure in the Manawatu-Wanganui
Region? This region in New Zealand’s lower North Island provides an interesting case
study due to its strategic location in the North Island’s and indeed New Zealand’s
transport network. In addition, it has experienced significant disruptions in the recent
past, most notably widespread failures caused by flooding in 2004, and the lengthy
closure of a significant inter-regional road connection, the Manawatu Gorge State
Highway 3 road, due to a landslide in 2011-2012. It also provides an opportunity to
explore this topic outside of a major metropolitan region. The region’s transport networks
and infrastructure also have important social and economic functions.
This research report is structured around a proposed Transport Resilience Indicator
Framework (RIF) which explores six key dimensions of transport infrastructure resilience:
engineering, services, ecological, social, economic and institutional. This holistic approach
to measuring transport resilience and is envisaged to accommodate both qualitative and
quantitative indicators. Within this framework, data were gathered via analysis of
secondary sources and nine key informant interviews. The interview participants were
from public sector agencies responsible for managing aspects of the region’s transport
network, the private sector and one social service provider. The participants had
considerable knowledge relating to the planning of the road network and/or its economic
and social significance. They also had knowledge of the impacts and/or management of
recent disruptions.
The institutions responsible for managing the region’s transport network can identify
vulnerabilities in the network, but can also collaborate and learn from past disruptions.
Concerns were expressed about the level of funding for maintaining and upgrading the
region’s transport networks, particularly for territorial authorities with large networks and
small rates bases. The region is strongly dependent on the roading network, with limited
alternatives during roading network disruptions. It proved difficult to quantify the
environmental impacts of transport disruptions. A case study of the response of a local
ii
health shuttle service provided an example of how a community, by drawing on social
capital, was able to adapt and respond appropriately to a transport disruption.
One key area identified for further research is assessing the capacity of private
contractors to respond to natural hazard events of varying magnitudes. The RIF could
also be strengthened by the use of indicators based on quantitative data, in addition to
qualitative data. It is suggested that one method of achieving this could this could be to
adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on expertise, methods and perspectives
from related professions, such as engineering and economics. [Executive summary
Recommended from our members
Empowering change: Realist evaluation of a Scottish Government programme to support normal birth
Objective: Midwife-led care has consistently been found to be safe and effective in reducing routine childbirth interventions and improving women’s experience of care. Despite consistent UK policy support for maximising the role of the midwife as the lead care provider for women with healthy pregnancies, implementation has been inconsistent and the persistent use of routine interventions in labour has given rise to concern. In response the Scottish Government initiated Keeping Childbirth Natural and Dynamic, a maternity care programme that aimed to support normal birth by implementing multi-professional care pathways and making midwife-led care for healthy pregnant women the national norm.
Design: The evaluation was informed by realist evaluation. It aimed to explore and explain the ways in which the KCND programme worked or did not work in different maternity care contexts.
Methods: The evaluation was conducted in three phases. In phase one semi- structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with key informants to elicit the programme theory. At phase two, this theory was tested using a multiple case study approach. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted and a case record audit was undertaken. In the final phase the programme theory was refined through analyses and interpretation of the data.
Setting and participants: The setting for the evaluation was NHS Scotland. In phase one, 12 national programme stakeholders and 13 consultant midwives participated. In phase two case, studies were undertaken in three health boards; overall 73 participants took part in interviews or focus groups. A case record audit was undertaken of all births in Scotland during one week in two consecutive years before and after pathway implementation.
Findings: Government and health board level commitment to, and support of, the programme signalled its importance and facilitated change. Consultant midwives tailored change strategies, using different approaches in response to the culture of care and inter-professional relationships within contexts. In contexts where practice was already changing KCND was seen as validating and facilitating. In areas where a more medical culture existed there was strong resistance to change from midwives and medical staff and robust implementation strategies were required. Overall the pathways appeared to enable midwives to achieve change.
Key conclusions: Our study highlighted the importance of those involved in a change programme working across levels of hierarchy within an organisation and from the macro-context of national policy and institutions to the meso-context of regional health service delivery and the micro-context of practitioner’s experiences of providing care. The assumptions and propositions that inform programmes of change, which are often left at a tacit level and unexamined by those charged with implementing them, were made explicit. This examination illuminated the roles of the three key change mechanisms adopted in the KCND programme - appointment of consultant midwives as programme champions, multidisciplinary care pathways, and midwife-led care. It revealed the role of the commitment mechanism, which built on the appointment of the local change champions. The analysis indicated that the process of change, despite these clear mechanisms, needed to be adapted to local contexts and responses to the implementation of KCND.
Implications for practice: Initial formative evaluation should be conducted prior to development of complex healthcare programmes to ensure that 1. The interventions will address the changes required 2. Key stakeholders who may support or resist change are identified 3. Appropriate facilitation strategies are developed tailored to context
Defining the latent phase of labour: is it important?
Background and rationale: The latent phase of labour is recognised as a period of uncertainty for both women and midwives. There is evidence from the literature of considerable variation in labour definitions and practice. Stimulated by discussion at an international maternity research conference, we set out to explore opinions regarding the need for labour stage definitions. Aim: to identify health professionals’ views regarding the need for a definition of the onset and the end of the latent phase of labour. Methods: This was an opportunistic, semi-structured, online survey of attendees at a maternity care research conference, which included midwives, other clinicians, academics, advocates and user representatives. Attendees (approximately 100) were invited to participate through a single email invitation sent by the conference committee and containing a link to the survey. Consent was sought on the landing page. Ethical approval was obtained from Bournemouth University’s research ethics committee. Quantitative questions were analysed using simple descriptive statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 24. Open questions were analysed using content analysis and where participants gave a more detailed answer, these were analysed using a thematic approach. Findings: Participants in the survey (n = 21) came from twelve countries. Most of the participants thought that there was a need to define the onset of the latent phase (n = 15, 71%). Common characteristics were cited, but the main theme in the open comments referred to the importance of women’s perceptions of labour onset. Most participants (n = 18, 86%) thought that there was a need to define the end of the latent phase. This was felt necessary because current practice within facilities is usually dictated by a definition. The characteristics suggested were also not unexpected and there was some consensus; but the degree of cervical dilatation that signified the end of the latent phase varied among participants. There was significant debate about whether a prolonged latent phase was important; for example, was it associated with adverse consequences. Most participants thought it was important (n = 15, 71%), but comments indicated that the reasons for this were complex. Themes included the value that women attached to knowing the duration of labour and the need to support women in the latent phase. Implications for practice: The findings from this small, opportunistic survey reflect the current debate within the maternal health community regarding the latent phase of labour. There is a need for more clarity around latent phase labour (in terms of both the definition and the support offered) if midwives are to provide care that is both woman centred and evidence-based. The findings will inform the development of a larger survey to explore attitudes towards labour definitions
"Is it realistic?" the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media.
BACKGROUND: Considerable debate surrounds the influence media have on first-time pregnant women. Much of the academic literature discusses the influence of (reality) television, which often portrays birth as risky, dramatic and painful and there is evidence that this has a negative effect on childbirth in society, through the increasing anticipation of negative outcomes. It is suggested that women seek out such programmes to help understand what could happen during the birth because there is a cultural void. However the impact that has on normal birth has not been explored. METHODS: A scoping review relating to the representation of childbirth in the mass media, particularly on television. RESULTS: Three key themes emerged: (a) medicalisation of childbirth; (b) women using media to learn about childbirth; and (c) birth as a missing everyday life event. CONCLUSION: Media appear to influence how women engage with childbirth. The dramatic television portrayal of birth may perpetuate the medicalisation of childbirth, and last, but not least, portrayals of normal birth are often missing in the popular media. Hence midwives need to engage with television producers to improve the representation of midwifery and maternity in the media
Critical phenomena from the two-particle irreducible 1/N expansion
The 1/N expansion of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action is
employed to compute universal properties at the second-order phase transition
of an O(N)-symmetric N-vector model directly in three dimensions. At
next-to-leading order the approach cures the spurious small-N divergence of the
standard (1PI) 1/N expansion for a computation of the critical anomalous
dimension eta(N), and leads to improved estimates already for moderate values
of N.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure
Native Birdlife in Hawke’s Bay: application of the river values assessment system (RiVAS and RiVAS+)
This report presents an application of the River Values Assessment System for existing value (RiVAS) and for potential value (RiVAS+) to native birdlife in the Hawkes Bay Region. A workshop was held in Napier on 3rd October 2011 to apply the method. This Hawkes Bay Region bird report needs to be read in conjunction with the method and with the first native bird application reports (see Hughey et al. 2010 and Gaze et al. 2010).Ministry of Science and Information, and Hawkes Bay Regional Counci
Fast field-cycling magnetic resonance detection of intracellular ultra-small iron oxide particles in vitro: Proof-of-concept.
PurposeInflammation is central in disease pathophysiology and accurate methods for its detection and quantification are increasingly required to guide diagnosis and therapy. Here we explored the ability of Fast Field-Cycling Magnetic Resonance (FFC-MR) in quantifying the signal of ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO) phagocytosed by J774 macrophage-like cells as a proof-of-principle.MethodsRelaxation rates were measured in suspensions of J774 macrophage-like cells loaded with USPIO (0-200 μg/ml Fe as ferumoxytol), using a 0.25 T FFC benchtop relaxometer and a human whole-body, in-house built 0.2 T FFC-MR prototype system with a custom test tube coil. Identical non-imaging, saturation recovery pulse sequence with 90° flip angle and 20 different evolution fields selected logarithmically between 80 μT and 0.2 T (3.4 kHz and 8.51 MHz proton Larmor frequency [PLF] respectively). Results were compared with imaging flow cytometry quantification of side scatter intensity and USPIO-occupied cell area. A reference colorimetric iron assay was used.ResultsThe T1 dispersion curves derived from FFC-MR were excellent in detecting USPIO at all concentrations examined (0-200 μg/ml Fe as ferumoxytol) vs. control cells, p ≤ 0.001. FFC-NMR was capable of reliably detecting cellular iron content as low as 1.12 ng/µg cell protein, validated using a colorimetric assay. FFC-MR was comparable to imaging flow cytometry quantification of side scatter intensity but superior to USPIO-occupied cell area, the latter being only sensitive at exposures ≥ 10 µg/ml USPIO.ConclusionsWe demonstrated for the first time that FFC-MR is capable of quantitative assessment of intra-cellular iron which will have important implications for the use of USPIO in a variety of biological applications, including the study of inflammation
- …