There is increasing effort in both the inpatient and outpatient setting to improve care, function, and quality of life for children with congenital heart disease, and to decrease complications. As ...the mortality rates of surgical procedures for congenital heart disease decrease, improvement in perioperative morbidity and quality of life have become key metrics of quality of care. Quality of life and function in patients with congenital heart disease can be affected by multiple factors: the underlying heart condition, cardiac surgery, complications, and medical treatment. Some of the functional areas affected are motor abilities, exercise capacity, feeding, speech, cognition, and psychosocial adjustment. Rehabilitation interventions aim to enhance and restore functional ability and quality of life for those with physical impairments or disabilities. Interventions such as exercise training have been extensively evaluated in adults with acquired heart disease, and rehabilitation interventions for pediatric patients with congenital heart disease have similar potential to improve perioperative morbidity and quality of life. However, literature regarding the pediatric population is limited. We have gathered a multidisciplinary team of experts from major institutions to create evidence- and practice-based guidelines for pediatric cardiac rehabilitation programs in both inpatient and outpatient settings. To improve the quality of life of pediatric patients with congenital heart disease, we propose the use of individualized multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs that include: medical management; neuropsychology; nursing care; rehabilitation equipment; physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapies; and exercise training.
The electronic γ–γ fast timing technique allows for direct nuclear lifetime determination down to the few picoseconds region by measuring the time difference between two coincident γ-ray transitions. ...Using high resolution ultra-fast LaBr3(Ce) scintillator detectors in combination with the recently developed mirror symmetric centroid difference method, nuclear lifetimes are measured with a time resolving power of around 5ps. The essence of the method is to calibrate the energy dependent position (centroid) of the prompt response function of the setup which is obtained for simultaneously occurring events. This time-walk of the prompt response function induced by the analog constant fraction discriminator has been determined by systematic measurements using different photomultiplier tubes and timing adjustments of the constant fraction discriminator. We propose a universal calibration function which describes the time-walk or the combined γ–γ time-walk characteristics, respectively, for either a linear or a non-linear amplitude versus energy dependency of the scintillator detector output pulses.
The β− decay of 81Zn to the neutron magic N=50 nucleus 81Ga, with only three valence protons with respect to 78Ni, was investigated. The study was performed at the ISOLDE facility at CERN by means of ...γ spectroscopy. The 81Zn half-life was determined to be T1/2=290(4) ms while the β-delayed neutron emission probability was measured as Pn=23(4)%. The analysis of the β-gated γ-ray singles and γ−γ coincidences from the decay of 81Zn provides 47 new levels and 70 new transitions in 81Ga. The β−n decay of 81Zn was observed and a new decay scheme into the odd-odd 80Ga nucleus was established. The half-lives of the first and second excited states of 81Ga were measured via the fast-timing method using LaBr3(Ce) detectors. The level scheme and transition rates are compared to large-scale shell-model calculations. The low-lying structure of 81Ga is interpreted in terms of the coupling of the three valence protons outside the doubly magic 78Ni core.
A toddler presented with hematemesis a few weeks after ingesting a penny. Workup revealed an esophageal lesion communicating with an aortic pseudoaneurysm in the setting of Actinomyces odontolyticus ...bacteremia. A. odontolytica is an oropharyngeal bacteria known to cause fistulas when introduced into tissue planes. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.)
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The lifetimes of the
2
1
+
, the
2
2
+
and the
3
1
-
states of
210
Po have been measured in the
208
Pb(
12
C,
10
Be)
210
Po transfer reaction by the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The result for ...the lifetime of the
2
1
+
state is about three times shorter than the adopted value. However, the new value still does not allow for a consistent description of the properties of the yrast
2
1
+
,
4
1
+
,
6
1
+
, and
8
1
+
states of
210
Po in the framework of nuclear shell models. Quasi-particle Phonon Model (QPM) calculations also cannot overcome this problem thus indicating the existence of a peculiarity which is neglected in both theoretical approaches.
A measurement of the reduced transition probability for the excitation of the ground state to the first 2+ state in 104Sn has been performed using relativistic Coulomb excitation at GSI. 104Sn is the ...lightest isotope in the Sn chain for which this quantity has been measured. The result is a key point in the discussion of the evolution of nuclear structure in the proximity of the doubly magic nucleus 100Sn. The value B(E2; 0+ → 2+) = 0.10(4) e2b2 is significantly lower than earlier results for 106Sn and heavier isotopes. The result is well reproduced by shell model predictions and therefore indicates a robust N = Z = 50 shell closure.
Ever-lasting interest in the structure of 100Sn and neighbouring nuclei is still well justified by the fact that it is the heaviest doubly-magic nucleus with N=Z. State-of-the-art experimental ...techniques involving stable and radioactive beam facilities have enabled access to these exotic nuclei. In particular, the analysis of experimental data obtained in two DESPEC experiments at GSI Darmstadt extends the information on the shell structure and its evolution towards N = Z = 50, and allows the study of seniority conservation and proton-neutron interaction in the g9/2 orbit. Several theoretical approaches for shell-model investigations are discussed and their predictive power assessed. The calculated systematics of the reduced transition probabilities for high- to medium-spin states in N∼Z isotopes with active g9/2 orbit is presented for the first time.
The transition rates for the 2(1)+ states in (62,64,66)Fe were studied using the recoil distance Doppler-shift technique applied to projectile Coulomb excitation reactions. The deduced E2 strengths ...illustrate the enhanced collectivity of the neutron-rich Fe isotopes up to N = 40. The results are interpreted using the generalized concept of valence proton symmetry which describes the evolution of nuclear structure around N = 40 as governed by the number of valence protons with respect to Z ≈ 30. The trend of collectivity suggested by the experimental data is described by state-of-the-art shell-model calculations with a new effective interaction developed for the fpgd valence space.
The level lifetimes of the
2
1
+
and
4
1
+
states in
182
Pt
have been re-measured employing the
γ
–
γ
fast-timing technique using fast
LaBr
3
(Ce) scintillators. Excited states in the nucleus of ...interest were populated by the fusion-evaporation reaction
170
Yb
(
16
O
,
4n
)
182
Pt
at a beam energy of 87 MeV provided by the FN Tandem accelerator of the University of Cologne. The lifetime of the
2
1
+
state was re-measured with high accuracy to be
τ
=
563
(
12
)
ps and resolves inconsistencies from previous measurements. Experimental results are compared to theoretical calculations in the framework of the sd-IBM with and without configuration mixing.
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