The short-term impact of the alcohol act on alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions in Scotland: a natural experiment

Background and aim: The introduction of the Alcohol Act in Scotland on 1 October 2011, which included a ban on multi-buy promotions, was likely associated with a fall in off-trade alcohol sales in the year after its implementation. The aim of this study was to test if the same legislation was associated with reduced levels of alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions in the 3-year period after its introduction. Design: A natural experiment design using time series data to assess the impact of the Alcohol Act legislation in Scotland. Comparisons were made with unexposed populations in the rest of Great Britain. Setting Scotland with comparable data obtained for geographical control groups in other parts of Great Britain. Participants: For alcohol-related deaths, a total of 17,732 in Scotland and 88,001 in England/Wales across 169 four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2013. For alcohol-related hospital admissions, a total of 121,314 in Scotland and 696,892 in England across 182 four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2014. Measurements: Deaths and hospital admissions in Scotland and control groups that were wholly attributable to alcohol for consecutive four-week periods between January 2001 and December 2014. Data were obtained by age, sex and area-based socioeconomic position. Findings: There was no evidence to suggest that the Alcohol Act was associated with changes in the overall rate of alcohol-related deaths [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.99, 95% confidence interval (0.91 to 1.07)] or hospital admissions [IRR 0.98 (0.95 to 1.02)] in Scotland. In control group analyses, the pseudo intervention variable was not associated with a change in alcohol-related death rates in England/Wales [IRR 0.99 (0.95 to 1.02)], but was associated with an increase in alcohol-related hospital admission rates in England [IRR 1.05 (1.03 to 1.07)]. In combined models, the interaction analysis did not provide support for a ‘net effect’ of the legislation on alcohol-related deaths in Scotland compared with England/Wales [IRR 0.99 (0.95 to 1.04)], but suggested a net reduction in hospital admissions for Scotland compared with England [IRR 0.93 (0.87 to 0.98)]. Conclusion: The implementation of the Alcohol Act in Scotland has not been associated clearly with a reduction in alcohol-related deaths or hospital admissions in the 3-year period after it was implemented in October 2011

On longitudinal compressive failure of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer: from unidirectional to woven, and from virgin to recycled

Modelling the longitudinal compressive failure of carbon-fibre-reinforced composites has been attempted for decades. Despite many developments, no single model has surfaced to provide simultaneously a definitive explanation for the micromechanics of failure as well as validated predictions for a generic stress state. This paper explores the reasons for this, by presenting experimental data (including scanning electron microscopic observations of loaded kink bands during propagation, and brittle shear fracture at 45 ° to the fibres) and reviewing previously proposed micromechanical analytical and numerical models. The paper focuses mainly on virgin unidirectional (UD) composites, but studies for woven and recycled composites are also presented, highlighting similarities and differences between these cases. It is found that, while kink-band formation (also referred to in the literature as microbuckling) is predominant in UD composites under longitudinal compression, another failure mode related to the failure of the fibres can be observed experimentally. It is also shown that the micromechanics of the failure process observed in UD composites is similar to that in other fibre architectures, hence encouraging the adaptation and application of models developed for the former to the latter. </jats:p

Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Through E-region Turbulence 1: Energy Budget

During periods of intense geomagnetic activity, strong electric fields and currents penetrate from the magnetosphere into high-latitude ionosphere where they dissipate energy, form electrojets, and excite plasma instabilities in the E-region ionosphere. These instabilities give rise to plasma turbulence which induces non-linear currents and strong anomalous electron heating (AEH) as observed by radars. These two effects can increase the global ionospheric conductances. This paper analyzes the energy budget in the electrojet, while the companion paper applies this analysis to develop a model of anomalous conductivity and frictional heating useful in large-scale simulations and models of the geospace environment. Employing first principles, this paper proves for the general case an earlier conjecture that the source of energy for plasma turbulence and anomalous heating equals the work by external field on the non-linear current. Using a two-fluid model of an arbitrarily magnetized plasma and the quasilinear approximation, this paper describes the energy conversion process, calculates the partial sources of anomalous heating, and reconciles the apparent contradiction between the inherently 2-D non-linear current and the 3-D nature of AEH.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure; 1st of two companion paper

The DRIFT Dark Matter Experiments

The current status of the DRIFT (Directional Recoil Identification From Tracks) experiment at Boulby Mine is presented, including the latest limits on the WIMP spin-dependent cross-section from 1.5 kg days of running with a mixture of CS2 and CF4. Planned upgrades to DRIFT IId are detailed, along with ongoing work towards DRIFT III, which aims to be the world's first 10 m3-scale directional Dark Matter detector.Comment: Proceedings of the 3rd International conference on Directional Detection of Dark Matter (CYGNUS 2011), Aussois, France, 8-10 June 201

Positive words carry less information than negative words

We show that the frequency of word use is not only determined by the word length \cite{Zipf1935} and the average information content \cite{Piantadosi2011}, but also by its emotional content. We have analyzed three established lexica of affective word usage in English, German, and Spanish, to verify that these lexica have a neutral, unbiased, emotional content. Taking into account the frequency of word usage, we find that words with a positive emotional content are more frequently used. This lends support to Pollyanna hypothesis \cite{Boucher1969} that there should be a positive bias in human expression. We also find that negative words contain more information than positive words, as the informativeness of a word increases uniformly with its valence decrease. Our findings support earlier conjectures about (i) the relation between word frequency and information content, and (ii) the impact of positive emotions on communication and social links.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 3 table

Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults

Objectives The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. Results The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99±1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92±0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91±0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80±0.86), respectively. Conclusion There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation.publishedVersionNivå

Polynomial Growth Harmonic Functions on Finitely Generated Abelian Groups

In the present paper, we develop geometric analytic techniques on Cayley graphs of finitely generated abelian groups to study the polynomial growth harmonic functions. We develop a geometric analytic proof of the classical Heilbronn theorem and the recent Nayar theorem on polynomial growth harmonic functions on lattices \mathds{Z}^n that does not use a representation formula for harmonic functions. We also calculate the precise dimension of the space of polynomial growth harmonic functions on finitely generated abelian groups. While the Cayley graph not only depends on the abelian group, but also on the choice of a generating set, we find that this dimension depends only on the group itself.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in Ann. Global Anal. Geo