Enhanced response of the regular networks to local signals in presence of a fast impurity

We consider an array of inductively coupled Josephson junctions with a fast impurity (a junction with a smaller value of critical current), and study the consequences of imposing a small amplitude periodic signal at some point in the array. We find that when external signal is imposed at the impurity, the response of the array is boosted and a small amplitude signal can be detected throughout the array. When the signal is imposed elsewhere, minor effects is seen on the dynamics of the array. The same results have been also seen in presence of a single fast spiking neuron in a chain of diffusively coupled FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1108.460

Low secondary electron yield engineered surface for electron cloud mitigation

Secondary electron yield (SEY or δ) limits the performance of a number of devices. Particularly, in high-energy charged particle accelerators, the beam-induced electron multipacting is one of the main sources of electron cloud (e-cloud) build up on the beam path; in radio frequency wave guides, the electron multipacting limits their lifetime and causes power loss; and in detectors, the secondary electrons define the signal background and reduce the sensitivity. The best solution would be a material with a low SEY coating and for many applications δ < 1 would be sufficient. We report on an alternative surface preparation to the ones that are currently advocated. Three commonly used materials in accelerator vacuum chambers (stainless steel, copper, and aluminium) were laser processed to create a highly regular surface topography. It is shown that this treatment reduces the SEY of the copper, aluminium, and stainless steel from δmax of 1.90, 2.55, and 2.25 to 1.12, 1.45, and 1.12, respectively. The δmax further reduced to 0.76-0.78 for all three treated metals after bombardment with 500 eV electrons to a dose between 3.5 × 10-3 and 2.0 × 10-2 C·mm-2

Coping With Stress in Iranian School-Age Children

Background: Methods learnt by children to cope with stress will be used in their adolescence. Failure to learn adaptive coping strategies causes some mental, physical and behavioral problems which continue until adulthood. Objectives: The current study was conducted to investigate the methods of coping with stress among Iranian school-age children. Patients and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in which a randomly selected sample of 839 students of third to fifth grade of primary school in Tabriz, Iran participated. The data were collected using the Schoolagers` Coping Strategies Inventory questionnaire. SPSS software was employed to analyze the data by percentage, absolute frequency, and linear regression test. Results: All coping methods inserted in the questionnaire were used by students. More than 70% of students mentioned “pray”, “say I’m sorry or tell the truth”, and “try to relax, stay calm” out of 26 cases of coping strategies. According to more than 60% of children, “pray”, “say I’m sorry or tell the truth”, and “draw, write, or read something” were the most useful coping methods and “pick on someone” and “yell or scream” were not mostly used by the children under study. Conclusions: Children use variable methods to cope with their stress. Therefore, parents, health trainers and school authorities should distinguish non-adaptive methods of children and teach them the adaptive coping strategies

A Multi-Armed Bandit to Smartly Select a Training Set from Big Medical Data

With the availability of big medical image data, the selection of an adequate training set is becoming more important to address the heterogeneity of different datasets. Simply including all the data does not only incur high processing costs but can even harm the prediction. We formulate the smart and efficient selection of a training dataset from big medical image data as a multi-armed bandit problem, solved by Thompson sampling. Our method assumes that image features are not available at the time of the selection of the samples, and therefore relies only on meta information associated with the images. Our strategy simultaneously exploits data sources with high chances of yielding useful samples and explores new data regions. For our evaluation, we focus on the application of estimating the age from a brain MRI. Our results on 7,250 subjects from 10 datasets show that our approach leads to higher accuracy while only requiring a fraction of the training data.Comment: MICCAI 2017 Proceeding

Challenges of the preceptors working with new nurses: A phenomenological research study

© 2016. Introduction: Preceptors play an important role in the transition of new nurses to the practice setting, however, preceptorship experience has been perceived as stressful by preceptors. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of nurse preceptors working with new nurses. Method: This qualitative study used the hermeneutic phenomenological design to explore the experiences of six nurse preceptors working with new nurses in a tertiary pediatric teaching hospital in Northwest of Iran, who were recruited by purposive sampling. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured individual interviews between July 2014 and March 2015, and analyzed using the Diekelmann's seven-stage method. Results: Data analysis revealed three themes: 1) preceptorship as a challenging and stressful role; 2) lack of support; and 3) lack of appreciation. Preceptorship as 'a challenging and stressful role' was the constitutive pattern that unified the themes. Conclusion: The preceptorship of new nurses is challenging and stressful. Preceptors endure several roles concurrently, thus, their workload should be balanced appropriately in order not to compromise with one another and evade burnout. The preceptors need to be well supported and their contribution be appropriately recognized. Setting clear objectives and realistic expectations, and having clear policies and guidelines in place should help develop a preceptorship program that is more likely to bring about positive outcomes for both preceptors and new nurses

The image of nursing, as perceived by Iranian male nurses

The stereotypical public image of nursing is a major concern for male nurses around the world. In this study, we explored how Iranian male nurses perceived the public view of nurses, and their perceptions of themselves. A qualitative descriptive design and content analysis were used to obtain data from 18 purposely-selected male hospital nurses with a baccalaureate nursing degree in Tabriz, Iran. Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed. Two main themes emerged: (i) the outsider's view of nursing, which referred to the participants' perceptions of their public image; and (ii) the insider's view, which related to the male nurses' perceptions of themselves. Results included personal transition into a positive professional self-image through the educational process, and continued public perception of nursing as a female profession ill-suited for a man. Strategies to improve the insider's and outsider's views of nursing are listed to help recruit and retain more Iranian male nurses

Rotating BEC in an optical lattice in Uniformly frustrated Josephson Junction arrays regime: Vortex configuration formulation for ground state

We consider a rotating BEC in an optical lattices in a regime which can be mapped to the Joseohson junction arrays. In this regime, we formulate the ground state energy in terms of vortex configuration. This method give us the vortex lattice in the ground state in a natural way. We apply our result for an approximation scheme of the problem which we suppose that the coupling of the Josephson junctions are uniform. Application of method for ladder case presented and the results compared with Monte-Carlo method numerically.We discuss about restriction of method and suggest improvement for it.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Epidemiological alteration in pathogens found in ground meat in Iran: unexpected predominance of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis

Colonization of the human and animal intestinal tract with potential pathogenic bacteria is correlated with the risk of contamination of food products. The current study analyzed the prevalence of Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli O157H7 in ground meat in Ilam, Iran. Both index organisms were identified following standard food microbiological methods. For E. faecalis, the susceptibility to vancomycin was tested, and PCR was used to check for the vanA gene. E. faecalis was present in all 24 ground meat samples, with no E. coli O157H7 detected in samples. The analysis showed the presence of the vanA gene in 5/24 vancomycin resistant enterococci. In conclusion, this study for the first time demonstrates the presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in ground meat in Iran. This observation warrants further epidemiologic investigation and should be followed up in the future