Regional differences in access to acute ischaemic stroke care and patient outcomes.

Background: Advances in stroke management such as acute stroke units and thrombolysis are not uniformly distributed throughout our population, with rural areas being relatively disadvantaged. It remains unclear, however, whether such disparities have led to corresponding differences in patient outcomes.

Aims: To describe the regional differences in acute ischaemic stroke care and outcomes within the Australian state of Tasmania.

Anxiety in children attending a specialist inherited cardiac arrhythmia clinic: a questionnaire study.

Objectives: Inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndromes are life-threatening conditions. There is a paucity of research examining the psychological impact of these conditions in children. This study had three main aims.

Psychosocial adjustment and quality of life in children undergoing screening in a specialist paediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy clinic.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the psychological well-being and quality of life in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the potential psychosocial impact of screening.

Methods: A total of 152 children (aged 3-18 years) attending a specialist paediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy clinic, and their parents completed the Generic Core Scales and Cardiac Module of the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) questionnaire as well as the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; 21 patients (14%) had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (group A); 23 children (15%) harboured hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-causing sarcomeric mutations with normal echocardiograms (group G); and 108 children (71%) had a family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with normal investigations and attended for clinical cardiological screening (group S).

Results: In group A, mean PedsQLTM total scores reported by children and parents were lower than those reported by unaffected children (p<0.

Mobile health is worth it! Economic benefit and impact on health of a population-based mobile screening program in new Mexico.

Background: HABITS for Life was a 3-year initiative to broadly deliver a statewide biometric and retinal screening program via a mobile unit throughout New Mexico at no charge to participants. The program goal-to identify health risk and improve population health status-was tested over a 3-year period. Value to participants and impact to the healthcare system were measured to quantify impact and value of investing in prevention at the community level.

Health, healing and recovery: therapeutic landscapes and the everyday lives of breast cancer survivors.

Drawing on the theory of therapeutic landscapes, this paper examines the importance of place for shaping health and healing among breast cancer survivors. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 women in the Greater Toronto Area at various stages of breast cancer recovery to examine where and how they access and create landscapes of healing. The interviews revealed the importance of everyday and extraordinary therapeutic landscapes that are created in bodies and homes, as well as the broader community and nature.

Preliminary economic analysis of poultry litter gasification option with a simple transportation model.

Several environmental issues are related to the disposal of poultry litter. In an effort to provide a more environmentally friendly alternative than landfill disposal or spreading as a soil amendment, work has been carried out previously at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). This past UTSI work was concentrated on developing a catalytic steam gasification concept to produce energy from poultry litter.

Small-area bends and beamsplitters for lowindex-contrast waveguides.

We explore the use of air trenches to achieve compact high efficiency 90 degrees waveguide bends and beamsplitters for waveguide material systems that have low refractive index and low refractive index contrast between the core and clad materials. For a single air interface, simulation results show that the optical efficiency of a waveguide bend can be increased from 78.4% to 99.