The charm quark mass with dynamical fermions

We compute the charm quark mass in lattice QCD and compare different formulations of the heavy quark, and quenched data to that with dynamical sea quarks. We take the continuum limit of the quenched data by extrapolating from three different lattice spacings, and compare to data with two flavours of dynamical sea quarks with a mass around the strange at the coarsest lattice spacing. Both the FNAL and ALPHA formalism are used. We find the different heavy quark formulations have the same continuum limit in the quenched approximation, and limited evidence that this approximation overestimates the charm quark mass.Comment: Lattice2004(heavy) 3 pages, 2 figure

Dirac Magnetic Monopole Production from Photon Fusion in Proton Collisions

We calculate the lowest order cross--section for Dirac magnetic monopole production from photon fusion in p p-bar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV, p p collisions at sqrt{s}=14 TeV, and we compare photon fusion with Drell--Yan (DY) production. We find the total photon fusion cross--section is comparable with DY at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV and dominates DY by a factor ~50 at sqrt{s}=14 TeV. We conclude that both the photon fusion and DY processes allow for a monopole mass limit m>370 GeV based upon the null results of the recent monopole search at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). We also conclude that photon fusion is the leading production mechanism to be considered for direct monopole searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, minor correction, one reference adde

Prison health in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde : A health needs assessment 2012

Scotland has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in Western Europe and the prison population is rising [1]. In the last decade the average daily prison population in Scotland increased by 27% [1]. The burden of physical and mental illness in the prison population is high; disproportionately so when compared to the general population [2]. This has variably been attributed to socioeconomic disadvantage and lifestyle and behavioural factors such as substance misuse, smoking and poor nutrition which are common in the prison population [2,3]. Prisoners suffer from multiple deprivation [2,3]. Many are a product of the care system, have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse and have difficulties forming and maintaining relationships. Levels of educational attainment are low and unemployment high. Homelessness is common. Prior to incarceration prisoners rarely engage with health care services in the community; during imprisonment demand for health care services is high [3,6,7]. Traditionally health care services in Scottish prisons were provided by the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS). On 1st November 2011 responsibility for the provision of health care to prisoners was transferred from SPS to the National Health Service (NHS). The aim of the transfer was to ensure that prisoners received the same standard of care and range of services as offered to the general population according to need. The guiding principle is that of ‘equivalence’ of care. The aim of this Health Needs Assessment (HNA) was to provide a systematic baseline assessment of the health and health care needs of prisoners in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and to identify gaps in the current service provision to inform service future planning and development. It focuses on the two operational publicly owned prisons within NHSGGC: HMP Barlinnie and HMP Greenock. A third prison, HMP Low Moss, falls under the remit of NHSGGC but it was under renovation at the time of this HNA. Information about the prison population was drawn from published literature and reports provided by staff from the Justice and Communities Directorate of the Scottish Government. Information about the prisons from HMP Inspectorate reports, direct observation and interviews with members of staff in each prison. To fully understand the level and nature of existing services a service mapping was undertaken jointly with nominated staff from the prison health teams using direct observation and extensive staff and prisoner interviews and focus groups. Overall the findings are in line with other national and international studies on prison health. Despite characteristic differences between the prisons within NHSGGC there was a high level of consensus amongst both prisoners and staff groups about health needs and priorities. The report acknowledges the thoughtful contribution of prison staff and the positive approach to improving health services that they expressed. This has impacted on the formation of recommendations that both validate existing approaches and identify opportunities and 10 priorities for health gain. In addition to more fundamental changes they identify opportunities for quick wins that do not require significant financial outlay

The effect of sea quarks on the mass of the charm quark from Lattice QCD

We compute the mass of the charm quark using both quenched and dynamical lattice QCD calculations. We examine the effects of mass dependent lattice artifacts by comparing two different formalisms for the heavy quarks. We take the continuum limit of the charm mass in quenched QCD by extrapolating from three different lattice spacings. At a fixed lattice spacing, the mass of the charm quark is compared between quenched QCD and dynamical QCD with a sea quark mass around strange. In the continuum limit of quenched QCD, we find m_c(m_c)=1.29(7)(13) GeV. No evidence was seen for unquenching.Comment: Added NP analysis of quenched data, corrected error in PCAC RGI mass, updated strange quark mass discussion and references, unified notation and corrected typos. No change in final result. Version accepted for publication in JHE

Identification of key performance areas and indicators in the southern African underground coal mining delivery environment

Abstract: The global resources and commodities market has become highly competitive. While southern Africa’s abundance of minerals resources is still unrivalled, the region has lost its dominance in terms of production. The sustainability of southern Africa’s mining industry is increasingly becoming dependent on its ability to manage the performance of its operations well. A valuable tool for monitoring and managing performance is the use of key performance areas (KPAs) – which are those areas of performance that are reflected explicitly or implicitly in the vision and strategies of an organization and reflect its critical success factors. This paper reviews the KPAs in the southern African mining delivery environment. The KPAs discussed in this paper have been identified by comparing KPAs of several mining houses engaged in mining operations in southern Africa and extracting those that are common to most of them. The authors support the view that each organization should develop KPAs to specifically fit its needs, the study reveals that five KPAs – safety and health, costs, product quality, morale and delivery should form a default list that covers the key areas that any organization should consider when choosing KPAs. KPAs exist for performance management. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) exist for performance measurement. KPIs are those controllable areas of KPAs that can be measured and here various KPIs require control namely: Cutting Time, Away Time, Downtime of various categories, Travelling Time and others that have been identified internationally

Enhancing Co-teaching Collaborations Through Drama Education: Exploring Challenges and Possibilities of a Drama Praxis Framework for Co-teaching

Many colleges of education are adopting co-teaching as a strategy for teacher candidate field work. Drama education is a collaborative methodology, rarely taught in Ontario colleges of education, which may provide a framework for developing robust co-teaching skills among pre-service teachers in Ontario and elsewhere. This descriptive case study examines an undergraduate drama education program in Ontario which uses drama praxis methodology to teach collaborative skills to developing teachers and community leaders. The findings of this study show parallels between drama education skills and co-teaching skills, and provide teacher educators with a contextual overview of the ways in which drama can be used to develop and reinforce collaborative co-teaching skills. An examination of the structural components of the drama education program also allow teacher educators to adapt its strategies and frameworks for use in their own co-teaching programs

An anthropological approach to Evaluating patient and general practitioners’ experiences with an open access flexible sigmoidoscopy service in Teesside.UK

The reported high incidence of colo-rectal cancer on Teesside UK has led to the instigation of an Open Access Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Service (OAFSS) in two National Health Service Trust hospitals on Teesside. This thesis reports on the results of my involvement, as an anthropologist, with the evaluation of the service. The issues addressed are patients' and general practitioners' satisfaction with the service, patients' and general practitioners' perceptions of why patients delay in seeking advice on rectal bleeding, and implementation and adoption by general practitioners of guidelines in general and in particular with those designed for use with the OAFSS. These topics are approached using anthropological methods, such as participant observation, in-depth patient and general practitioner qualitative interviews, a patient- centred focus group meeting, and a standardised questionnaire. This holistic methodology offers a more realistic evaluation of 'satisfaction' than do those using a standardised questionnaire alone. This also queries the meaning of 'satisfaction' and 'perceptions' in the post-modern health arena, providing a convincing demonstration of the valuable contribution anthropologists can make to evaluations of patients' and general practitioners' perceptions and experiences