Injury mortality surveillance systems are critical to monitor changes in a population's injury outcomes so that relevant injury prevention responses may be adopted. This is particularly the case in ...South Africa, where the injury burden is nearly twice the global rate. Regular evaluations of surveillance systems are pivotal to strengthening surveillance capacity, performance, and cost effectiveness. The National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS) is an injury mortality surveillance system that is currently focused in Mpumalanga and utilises manual and electronic web-based systems for data collection. This study explored Forensic Pathology Service (FPS) staff perceptions of the implementation barriers and facilitators of manual- and electronic injury mortality surveillance system methods.
A qualitative study was employed using purposive sampling. Forty-seven participants, aged 29 to 59 years comprising 31 males and 16 females were recruited across 21 FPS facilities that serve the province. The formative evaluation occurred over the November 2019 to November 2022 period. Twelve focus group discussions were thematically analysed to determine emerging themes and patterns related to the use of the system using the WHO surveillance system guidelines as a framework.
The key themes concerning the barriers and facilitators were located along WHO attributes of simplicity, acceptability, timeliness, flexibility, data quality and stability. Distinctions between the manual and e-surveillance systems were drawn upon across the attributes highlighting their experience with the system, user preference, and its contextual relevance. With Mpumalanga predominantly rural, internet connectivity was a common issue, with most participants consequently showing a preference for the manual system, even though the electronic system's automated internal validation process was of benefit. The data quality however remained similar for both methods. With program stability and flexibility, the manual system proved more beneficial as the dataset was reported to be easily transferrable across computer devices.
Obtaining FPS perceptions of their experiences with the system methodologies are pertinent for the enhancement of injury surveillance systems so to improve prospective engagements with the systems. This will facilitate timely and accurate injury mortality information which is vital to inform public policy, and injury control and prevention responses.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Ab initio calculation of the surface relaxation of metals.•Surface energy and surface stress of transition metals.•Surface energy and surface stress of simple metals and light actinides.
We ...investigated surface properties of metals by performing first-principles calculations. A systematic database was established for the surface relaxation, surface energy (γ), and surface stress (τ) for metallic elements in the periodic table. The surfaces were modeled by multi-layered slab structures along the direction of low-index surfaces. The surface energy γ of simple metals decreases as the atomic number increases in a given group, while the surface stress τ has its minimum in the middle. The transition metal series show parabolic trends for both γ and τ with a dip in the middle. The dip occurs at half-band filling due to a long-range Friedel oscillation of the surface charge density, which induces a strong stability to the Peierls-like transition. In addition, due to magnetic effects, the dips in the 3d metal series are shallower and deeper for γ and τ, respectively, than those of the 4d and 5d metals. The surface stress of the transition metals is typically positive, only Cr and Mn have a negative τ for the (100) surface facet, indicating that they are under compression. The light actinides have an increasing γ trend according to the atomic number. The present work provides a useful and consistent database for the theoretical modelling of surface phenomena.
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Accurate delineation of organs at risk (OAR) is vital to the radiotherapy planning process. Inaccuracies in OAR delineation arising from imprecise anatomical definitions may affect plan optimisation ...and risk inappropriate dose delivery to normal tissues. The aim of this study was to review the provision of OAR contouring guidance in National Institute of Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) portfolio clinical trials.
The National Radiotherapy Quality Trials Assurance (RTTQA) Group carried out a two-round Delphi assessment to determine which OAR descriptions provided optimal guidance.
Eighty-four clinical trials involving radiotherapy quality assurance were identified as either in recruitment or in setup within the NIHR CRN portfolio. Fifty-nine trials mandated OAR contouring. In total there were 412 OAR; 171 were uniquely named; 159 OAR had more than one name associated with a single structure, with the greatest nomenclature variation seen for the femoral head ± neck, the parotid gland, and bowel. The two-round Delphi assessment determined 42 OAR descriptions as providing optimal contouring guidance.
This study identified the need for OAR nomenclature and contouring guidance consistency across clinical trials. In response to this study and in conjunction with the Global Quality Assurance of Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials Harmonisation Group, the RTTQA Group is in collaboration with international partners to provide consensus recommendations for OAR delineation in clinical trials.
•Accurate OAR contouring is vital to the radiotherapy planning process.•Inaccuracies in delineation risks dose delivery to anatomical regions that are not correctly defined as part of the planning process.•In response to this report, RTTQA is working with international partners to provide recommendations for OAR delineation in clinical trials.
We present self-consistent calculations for the electronic and optical properties of tin dioxide, SnO2, in the rutile structure and SnS and SnSe in their orthorhombic structures. The calculations ...were performed within the local density approximation (LDA) using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW). We determined the calculated electronic band structure, as well as the density of states which are in good agreement with experiments and other calculations. Furthermore, the dielectric tensor and the absorption coefficient are calculated and compared with the available measurements. For SnO2, the calculated absorption coefficient is in good agreement with the experimental data. For SnS and SnSe compounds, no optical data are available for comparison.
The high-pressure equation of state and elastic properties of solid He (He-4) have been calculated using density functional theory formulated in the framework of the exact muffin-tin orbitals method. ...The theoretical results, obtained within the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation functional, are in good agreement with the experimental data available for pressures between 13 GPa and 32 GPa. We predict that at 0 K the hexagonal phase of He remains mechanically and thermodynamically stable up to the highest pressure considered in the present study (similar to 150 GPa). The calculated anisotropy ratios of He are similar to those observed in the case of hexagonal metals with c/a similar to 1.63. On the other hand, we find that hydrostatic pressure has negligible effect on the anisotropy of He. This indicates that He can be used as a quasihydrostatic medium in high-pressure experiments up to at least 150 GPa.
Using the density functional theory formulated within the framework of the exact muffin–tin orbitals method, we present a systematic study of the top layer relaxation and surface stress of 4d ...transition metals. Our calculations predict layer contractions for most surfaces. We also find that the relaxations of the close packed surfaces decrease with increasing atomic number through the 4d series. We propose that the relaxation is mainly due to the reduction of the number of sp electrons in the surface layer relative to bulk. The surface stress is found to be very sensitive to the relaxation and, therefore, an accurate determination of the layer relaxation is necessary for obtaining reliable values for the surface stress. Comparing the top layer relaxations for the close packed surfaces, we see essential deviations between data derived in different ab initio calculations. At the same time, the overall trend for the present surface stress of 4d metals is in reasonable agreement with recent full-potential data.
We present a computational method for the ab-initio study of the magneto-optical quantities using the augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (APW+lo) method. The calculations are performed within ...the local-density (LDA) approximation. In the present paper, the optical conductivity is the basic quantity for the evaluation of the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). Thus it is well described and calculated. Considerable work has been performed on the magneto-optical Kerr effect using experiments, however, no experimental or theoretical work has been investigated on rare-earth silicide ErSi2, in particular using ab-initio method. Our results consist a prediction.
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