Trends in sexually transmitted infections in general practice 1990-2000: population based study using data from the UK general practice research database

Objective: To describe the contribution of primary care to the diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections in the United Kingdom, 1990-2000, in the context of increasing incidence of infections in genitourinary medicine clinics. Design: Population based study. Setting: UK primary care. Participants: Patients registered in the UK general practice research database. Main outcome measures: Incidence of diagnosed sexually transmitted infections in primary care and estimation of the proportion of major such infections diagnosed in primary care. Results: An estimated 23.0% of chlamydia cases in women but only 5.3% in men were diagnosed and treated in primary care during 1998-2000, along with 49.2% cases of non-specific urethritis and urethral discharge in men and 5.7% cases of gonorrhoea in women and 2.9% in men. Rates of diagnosis in primary care rose substantially in the late 1990s. Conclusions: A substantial and increasing number of sexually transmitted infections are diagnosed and treated in primary care in the United Kingdom, with sex ratios differing from those in genitourinary medicine clinics. Large numbers of men are treated in primary care for presumptive sexually transmitted infections

"Petit spot" rejuvenated volcanism superimposed on plume-derived Samoan shield volcanoes: Evidence from a 645-m drill core from Tutuila Island, American Samoa

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 20(3), (2019): 1485-1507, doi:10.1029/2018GC007985.In 2015 a geothermal exploration well was drilled on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. The sample suite from the drill core provides 645 m of volcanic stratigraphy from a Samoan volcano, spanning 1.45 million years of volcanic history. In the Tutuila drill core, shield lavas with an EM2 (enriched mantle 2) signature are observed at depth, spanning 1.46 to 1.44 Ma. These are overlain by younger (1.35 to 1.17 Ma) shield lavas with a primordial “common” (focus zone) component interlayered with lavas that sample a depleted mantle component. Following ~1.15 Myr of volcanic quiescence, rejuvenated volcanism initiated at 24.3 ka and samples an EM1 (enriched mantle 1) component. The timing of the initiation of rejuvenated volcanism on Tutuila suggests that rejuvenated volcanism may be tectonically driven, as Samoan hotspot volcanoes approach the northern terminus of the Tonga Trench. This is consistent with a model where the timing of rejuvenated volcanism at Tutuila and at other Samoan volcanoes relates to their distance from the Tonga Trench. Notably, the Samoan rejuvenated lavas have EM1 isotopic compositions distinct from shield lavas that are geochemically similar to “petit spot” lavas erupted outboard of the Japan Trench and late stage lavas erupted at Christmas Island located outboard of the Sunda Trench. Therefore, like the Samoan rejuvenated lavas, petit spot volcanism in general appears to be related to tectonic uplift outboard of subduction zones, and existing geochemical data suggest that petit spots share similar EM1 isotopic signatures.Reviews from Kaj Hoernle and three anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. M. G. J. acknowledges support from the American Samoa Power Authority and National Science Foundation grants OCE‐1736984 and EAR‐1624840. The Tutuila drill core was the brainchild of Tim Bodell, without whom we would still have no stratigraphic record of Tutuila volcanism. The support of Utu Abe Malae and Matamua Katrina Mariner was instrumental to the project's success. We dedicate this paper to the memory of Abe Malae and his efforts to support science and education in American Samoa. Images of the entire drill core are available online (escholarship.org/uc/item/6gg6p61w). All data presented are either part of this study or previously published and are referenced in text.2019-08-1

Banks-Zaks fixed point analysis in momentum subtraction schemes

We analyse the critical exponents relating to the quark mass anomalous dimension and beta-function at the Banks-Zaks fixed point in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) in a variety of representations for the quark in the momentum subtraction (MOM) schemes of Celmaster and Gonsalves. For a specific range of values of the number of quark flavours, estimates of the exponents appear to be scheme independent. Using the recent five loop modified minimal subtraction (MSbar) scheme quark mass anomalous dimension and estimates of the fixed point location we estimate the associated exponent as 0.263-0.268 for the SU(3) colour group and 12 flavours when the quarks are in the fundamental representation.Comment: 33 latex pages, 25 tables, anc directory contains txt file with electronic version of renormalization group function

Adaptive response and enlargement of dynamic range

Many membrane channels and receptors exhibit adaptive, or desensitized, response to a strong sustained input stimulus, often supported by protein activity-dependent inactivation. Adaptive response is thought to be related to various cellular functions such as homeostasis and enlargement of dynamic range by background compensation. Here we study the quantitative relation between adaptive response and background compensation within a modeling framework. We show that any particular type of adaptive response is neither sufficient nor necessary for adaptive enlargement of dynamic range. In particular a precise adaptive response, where system activity is maintained at a constant level at steady state, does not ensure a large dynamic range neither in input signal nor in system output. A general mechanism for input dynamic range enlargement can come about from the activity-dependent modulation of protein responsiveness by multiple biochemical modification, regardless of the type of adaptive response it induces. Therefore hierarchical biochemical processes such as methylation and phosphorylation are natural candidates to induce this property in signaling systems.Comment: Corrected typos, minor text revision

Influence of shot peening on high-temperature corrosion and corrosion-fatigue of nickel based superalloy 720Li

High-temperature corrosion fatigue, a combination of corrosion with a fatigue cycle, is an emerging generic issue affecting power generation and aero gas turbine engines and has the potential to limit component life. Historically, surface treatments, such as shot peening have been used to improve component life and have been optimised for fatigue response. Research into optimisation of shot peening techniques for hot corrosion and high-temperature corrosion fatigue has shown 6–8A 230H 200% coverage to provide overall optimum performance for nickel-based superalloy 720Li based on the limited data within this study. Utilisation of electron backscatter diffraction techniques, in combination with detailed assessment of corrosion products have been undertaken as part of this work. The resultant cold-work visualisation technique provides a novel method of determining the variation in material properties due to the shot peening process and the interaction with hot corrosion. Through this work it has been shown that all three shot peening outputs must be considered to minimise the effect of corrosion fatigue, the cold work, residual stress and surface roughness. Further opportunity for optimisation has also been identified based on this work

Sub-post offices and high street revitalisation: lessons from the experience of grant assistance to sub-post offices in deprived urban areas of the UK

Post Offices (POs) are essential service providers within deprived urban areas. This paper explores some lessons from the impact of grant assistance to sub-post offices (SPOs) in deprived urban areas of England and Scotland which are relevant to contemporary policy initiatives to revive high streets. Utilising longitudinal data to explore whether government grant assistance has made a difference in enabling the survival and development of assisted SPOs, it also considers their role in maintaining and developing shops and services in deprived urban neighbourhoods. The inter-relationship of SPOs with their local economies and communities is explored, including external influences such as competition and complementarity and internal influences relating to the evolving role of SPOs in the early 21st century. A central theme is the apparent paradox between the UK Government’s desire to maintain SPOs as essential service providers and catalysts for other ‘high street’ services within deprived urban areas, whilst opening their core services up to increasing levels of competition. Key Words: Post Offices, Retail, High Street Services, Urban, Regeneration, Deprivatio

On the selection and design of proteins and peptide derivatives for the production of photoluminescent, red-emitting gold quantum clusters

Novel pathways of the synthesis of photoluminescent gold quantum clusters (AuQCs) using biomolecules as reactants provide biocompatible products for biological imaging techniques. In order to rationalize the rules for the preparation of red-emitting AuQCs in aqueous phase using proteins or peptides, the role of different organic structural units was investigated. Three systems were studied: proteins, peptides, and amino acid mixtures, respectively. We have found that cysteine and tyrosine are indispensable residues. The SH/S-S ratio in a single molecule is not a critical factor in the synthesis, but on the other hand, the stoichiometry of cysteine residues and the gold precursor is crucial. These observations indicate the importance of proper chemical behavior of all species in a wide size range extending from the atomic distances (in the AuI-S semi ring) to nanometer distances covering the larger sizes of proteins assuring the hierarchical structure of the whole self-assembled system

Fibre bundle formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics: I. Introduction. The evolution transport

We propose a new systematic fibre bundle formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The new form of the theory is equivalent to the usual one but it is in harmony with the modern trends in theoretical physics and potentially admits new generalizations in different directions. In it a pure state of some quantum system is described by a state section (along paths) of a (Hilbert) fibre bundle. Its evolution is determined through the bundle (analogue of the) Schr\"odinger equation. Now the dynamical variables and the density operator are described via bundle morphisms (along paths). The mentioned quantities are connected by a number of relations derived in this work. The present first part of this investigation is devoted to the introduction of basic concepts on which the fibre bundle approach to quantum mechanics rests. We show that the evolution of pure quantum-mechanical states can be described as a suitable linear transport along paths, called evolution transport, of the state sections in the Hilbert fibre bundle of states of a considered quantum system.Comment: 26 standard (11pt, A4) LaTeX 2e pages. The packages AMS-LaTeX and amsfonts are required. Revised: new material, references, and comments are added. Minor style chages. Continuation of quan-ph/9803083. For continuation of the this series see http://www.inrne.bas.bg/mathmod/bozhome

Multivariate Modelling of Pedestrian Fatality Risk Through on the Spot Accident Investigation

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of public roads and represent one of the largest groups of road casualties; their death rate around the world due to vehicle-pedestrian collisions is high and tending to rise. In Spain, as in other countries of the European Union, steps have been taken to reduce the number and consequences of such accidents, with encouraging results in recent years. A key to countering this concern is the accident research activity that has obtained remarkable achievements in different fields, especially when multidisciplinary approaches are taken. This paper describes the development of a multivariate model that is able to detect the most influential parameters on the consequences of vehicle-pedestrian collision and to quantify their impact on pedestrian fatality risk. First, an accident database containing detailed information and parameters of vehicle-pedestrian collisions in Madrid has been developed. The accidents were investigated on the spot by INSIA accident investigation teams and analyzed using advanced reconstruction techniques. The model was then developed with two components: (1) a classification tree that characterizes and selects the explanatory variables, identifying their interactions, and (2) a binary logistic regression to quantify the influence of each variable and interaction resulting from the classification tree. The whole model represents an important tool for identifying, quantifying and predicting the potential impact of measures aimed at reducing injuries in vehicle-pedestrian collisions

Trade unions and precariat in Europe : representative claims

Trade unions have been charged with neglecting labour market ‘outsiders’, while alternative actors have emerged to represent these. In response, unions have stepped up their claim to be representative of all workers, without distinction. We review the theoretical and policy debates on this issue, and argue that representation as such has been under-theorized. We draw on Saward’s concept of ‘representative claims’ to analyse the different grounds for competing assertions of representativeness. We identify four main forms of claims, and illustrate these with empirical examples. We conclude that these different claims are mutually reinforcing in stimulating attention to the outsiders, and in their interaction with institutional settings, they have a performative effect in defining new social actors