Mapping Occupational Therapy Practice with Postsecondary Students: A Scoping Review

Background: Legislation supports a role for occupational therapy in postsecondary settings, but this area is not a common practice area and the practice area is not well understood. This scoping review maps current literature of occupational therapists working with students in postsecondary settings in order to inform future research and practice. Method: After identifying included articles, a narrative description of the quantitative studies along with a concept map were completed. A qualitative thematic analysis of the articles was also conducted. Results: Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria. Quantitative results describe occupational therapy services as both a direct and indirect service provided through offices of disability services, assistive technology, and supported education programs, among others. The primary population with whom occupational therapists engage with are students with mental illness. Three qualitative themes emerged from the scoping review, including the focus on occupation and skills needed for success, using the campus environment, and campus collaboration. Conclusion: The structure of occupational therapy services varies from location to location and occupational therapists work with various populations of students. Future research needs to support the distinct value of occupational therapy in this practice area, including the scope and outcomes of occupational therapy services with different populations of students

Kink-Based Path Integral Calculations of Atoms He-Ne

An adaptive, kink-based path integral formalism is used to calculate the ground state energies of the atoms He-Ne. The method uses an adaptive scheme to virtually eliminate the sign difficulties. This is done by using a Monte Carlo scheme to identify states that contribute significantly to the canonical partition function and then include them in the wavefunctions to calculate the canonical averages. The calculations use the 6-31G basis set and obtain both precision and accuracy.Comment: To appear in Chem. Phys. Let

An Adaptive, Kink-Based Approach to Path Integral Calculations

A kink-based expression for the canonical partition function is developed using Feynman's path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and a discrete basis set. The approach is exact for a complete set of states. The method is tested on the 3x3 Hubbard model and overcomes the sign problem seen in traditional path integral studies of fermion systems. Kinks correspond to transitions between different N-electron states, much in the same manner as occurs in configuration interaction calculations in standard ab initio methods. The different N-electron states are updated, based on which states occur frequently during a Monte Carlo simulation, giving better estimates of the true eigenstates of the Hamiltonian.Comment: 24 pages, to be published in J. Chem. Phy

Microscopic theory of network glasses

A molecular theory of the glass transition of network forming liquids is developed using a combination of self-consistent phonon and liquid state approaches. Both the dynamical transition and the entropy crisis characteristic of random first order transitions are mapped out as a function of the degree of bonding and the density. Using a scaling relation for a soft-core model to crudely translate the densities into temperatures, the theory predicts that the ratio of the dynamical transition temperature to the laboratory transition temperature rises as the degree of bonding increases, while the Kauzmann temperature falls relative to the laboratory transition. These results indicate why highly coordinated liquids should be "strong" while van der Waals liquids without coordination are "fragile".Comment: slightly revised version that has been accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Simulation of geometric and electronic degrees of freedom using a kink-based path integral formulation: application to molecular systems

A kink-based path integral method, previously applied to atomic systems, is modified and used to study molecular systems. The method allows the simultaneous evolution of atomic and electronic degrees of freedom. Results for CH$_4$, NH$_3$, and H$_2$O demonstrate this method to be accurate for both geometries and energies. Comparison with DFT and MP2 level calculations show the path integral approach to produce energies in close agreement with MP2 energies and geometries in close agreement with both DFT and MP2 results.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figure

Enhancement of low-mass dileptons in SPS heavy-ion collisions: possible evidence for dropping rho meson mass in medium

Dilepton production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions at SPS energies is studied in the relativistic transport model using initial conditions determined by the string dynamics from RQMD. It is found that both the CERES and HELIOS-3 data for dilepton spectra in proton-nucleus reactions can be well described by the conventional mechanism of Dalitz decay and direct vector meson decay. However, to provide a quantitative explanation of the observed dilepton spectra in central S+Au and S+W collisions requires contributions other than these direct decays. Introducing a decrease of vector meson masses in hot dense medium, we find that these heavy-ion data can also be satisfactorily explained. We also give predictions for Pb+Au collisions at 160 GeV/nucleon using current CERES mass resolution and acceptance.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, figures available from [email protected], contribution to QM'96, to appear in the proceeding

Sign learning kink-based (SiLK) quantum Monte Carlo for molecular systems

The Sign Learning Kink (SiLK) based Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method is used to calculate the ab initio ground state energies for multiple geometries of the H$_{2}$O, N$_2$, and F$_2$ molecules. The method is based on Feynman's path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and has two stages. The first stage is called the learning stage and reduces the well-known QMC minus sign problem by optimizing the linear combinations of Slater determinants which are used in the second stage, a conventional QMC simulation. The method is tested using different vector spaces and compared to the results of other quantum chemical methods and to exact diagonalization. Our findings demonstrate that the SiLK method is accurate and reduces or eliminates the minus sign problem.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, to appear in the Journal of Chemical Physic

Intermolecular Forces and the Glass Transition

Random first order transition theory is used to determine the role of attractive and repulsive interactions in the dynamics of supercooled liquids. Self-consistent phonon theory, an approximate mean field treatment consistent with random first order transition theory, is used to treat individual glassy configurations, while the liquid phase is treated using common liquid state approximations. The transition temperature $T^{*}_{A}$, the temperature where the onset of activated behavior is predicted by mean field theory, the lower crossover temperature $T_{c}^{*}$ where barrierless motions actually occur through fractal or stringy motions, and $T^{*}_{K}$, the Kauzmann temperature, are calculated in addition to $T^{*}_{g}$, the glass transition temperature that corresponds to laboratory cooling rates. Both the isobaric and isochoric behavior in the supercooled regime are studied, providing results for $\Delta C_{V}$ and $\Delta C_{p}$ that can be used to calculate the fragility as a function of density and pressure, respectively. The predicted variations in the $\alpha$-relaxation time with temperature and density conform to the empirical density-temperature scaling relations found by Casalini and Roland. We thereby demonstrate the microscopic origin of their observations. Finally, the relationship first suggested by Sastry between the spinodal temperature and the Kauzmann temperatures, as a function of density, is examined. The present microscopic calculations support the existence of an intersection of these two temperatures at sufficiently low temperatures.Comment: Submitted to J. Phys. Chem. A, June 2007 Replaced with accepted version Sept. 200

Perceptions of Physician Assistant Students’ Readiness with System-Based vs. Problem-Based Physical Diagnosis Curriculum

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify students’ perceptions of the curriculum in two different cohorts who received two different delivery styles (system-based or problem-based) of physical diagnosis curriculum to determine if significant differences were present, and to identify how each cohort performed on their clinical experiences (CEs). Methods: One-hundred and sixteen students at one physician assistant (PA) program from two cohorts of students were surveyed using a true/false survey (analyzed by chi-square) regarding their perceptions of their preparedness for clinical rotations with regard to the ability to perform physical examinations. Clinical preceptor evaluations were also analyzed for both cohorts with respect to competence in physical examination skills as rated by preceptors on a scale of 1 to 3. Results: Each cohort related that they were satisfied with their preparation regardless of delivery format, with no tendencies toward respective cohorts indicating they should have received the alternate delivery format. No significant differences were found in the students’ perceptions of their ability to perform a physical examination on CEs between the cohorts or between the groups’ performances on their CEs. Conclusions: System-based and problem-based formats were found to have merit and similar outcomes and thus can both be deemed effective teaching methods for teaching physical diagnosis curriculum

Expanding Access to Malaria Diagnosis through Retail Shops in Western Kenya: What Do Shop Workers Think?

Background. The common symptoms of malaria reduce the specificity of clinical diagnosis. Presumptive treatment is conventional but can lead to overdiagnosis of malaria, delay of appropriate treatment, overprescription of antimalarials, and drug resistance. Routine use of diagnostic tests can address many of these concerns. Though treatment is often procured from retailers, there is low availability of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (MRDTs), a simple, inexpensive, and accurate diagnostic solution. We know little about the challenges to expanding access to diagnostics through these outlets. Methods. To understand the perceptions of the benefits and challenges to selling rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, we conducted focus group discussions with antimalarial retailers who serve the residents of the Webuye Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in western Kenya. Results. Medicine retailers perceived MRDTs to be beneficial to their customers and businesses but also included cost, fear of the tests, risks of self-treatment, and regulatory concerns among the challenges to using and selling MRDTs. Conclusion. MRDTs represent a viable approach to increase access to malaria diagnostic testing. Medicine retailers are eager for MRDTs to be made available to them. However, certain challenges remain to implementation in retail outlets and should be addressed in advance