Health behaviour counselling in primary care : general practitioner : reported rate and confidence

Aims: The study aimed to identify variables associated with General Practitioners’ (GPs’) self-reported rate of health behaviour change counselling and confidence in counselling abilities. Methodology: This study was a repeat of a similar study carried out at the Mayo Clinic in 2007. The same tool and methodology were used with the permission of the authors. Variables measured by the questionnaire included: participants’ characteristics, physical activity, smoking status, healthy eating behaviour, self-reported rate of counselling behaviour, extent of training in counselling, perceived importance of counselling, confidence for health behaviour change counselling. A comparative analysis of the results was made.peer-reviewe

The credit supply channel of monetary policy: evidence from a FAVAR model with sign restrictions

We test whether the credit channel of the monetary policy was present in the United States' economy from January 2001 to April 2016. To this end, we use a factor-augmented vector autoregression, and we impose sensible theoretical sign restrictions in our structural identification scheme. We use the expected substitution effect between bank commercial loans and commercial papers to identify the credit supply channel. We found that the credit channel appears to have operated in the US economy during the sample period. However, when we split the sample, we found that the credit channel did not operate after the subprime crisis (close to the Zero Lower Bound of the interest rate). This result is robust to changing the sign restriction horizons. It supports current views in the literature regarding the ineffectiveness of the credit channel as a means to foster real economic activity during crises episodes

An X-ray view of WLRGs/LINERs

We present X-ray observations of nine Weak-Line Radio Galaxies (WLRGs), optically classified as confirmed or possible Low Ionization Nuclear Emission-line Regions (LINERs). The data were taken from the Chandra, XMM, and BeppoSax archives. The Chandra images typically show complex X-ray morphologies, with hard (2-10 keV) point sources embedded in diffuse soft (0.3-2.0 keV) emission in all cases except 1246-41 (NGC 4696), where only diffuse emission is detected on the scale of the cluster, and 0334-01 (3C 15), where only a point source is detected. The nuclear X-ray spectra are well fitted at hard energies by an absorbed powerlaw, with a wide range of photon indices, Gamma=1.5-2.7. Excess absorption over the Galactic value is detected in 6/9 sources, with column densities NH approximately 10^21-22 cm^-2. A thermal component is required at softer energies, in agreement with the results of the spatial analysis. We find that there is no correlation between the core X-ray luminosity and the radio core dominance parameter, suggesting that the bulk of the core X-ray emission is not beamed, but rather is isotropic and thus likely related to the accretion flow. In an attempt to constrain the nature of the accretion flow, we calculate the ratios of bolometric to Eddington luminosities L_bol/L_Edd, and the radiative efficiency eta based on the Bondi accretion rates. We find that L_bol/L_Edd ~10^-4 - 10^-6 and eta ~10^-2 - 10^-6 for all the objects in our sample, suggesting radiatively inefficient accretion flows.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Interface solitons in quadratically nonlinear photonic lattices

We study the properties of two-color nonlinear localized modes which may exist at the interfaces separating two different periodic photonic lattices in quadratic media, focussing on the impact of phase mismatch of the photonic lattices on the properties, stability, and threshold power requirements for the generation of interface localized modes. We employ both an effective discrete model and continuum model with periodic potential and find good qualitative agreement between both models. Dynamics excitation of interface modes shows that, a two-color interface twisted mode splits into two beams with different escaping angles and carrying different energies when entering a uniform medium from the quadratic photonic lattice. The output position and energy contents of each two-color interface solitons can be controlled by judicious tuning ofComment: 6 pages, 8 figure

Contraction analysis of switched Filippov systems via regularization

We study incremental stability and convergence of switched (bimodal) Filippov systems via contraction analysis. In particular, by using results on regularization of switched dynamical systems, we derive sufficient conditions for convergence of any two trajectories of the Filippov system between each other within some region of interest. We then apply these conditions to the study of different classes of Filippov systems including piecewise smooth (PWS) systems, piecewise affine (PWA) systems and relay feedback systems. We show that contrary to previous approaches, our conditions allow the system to be studied in metrics other than the Euclidean norm. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations on a set of representative examples that confirm their effectiveness and ease of application.Comment: Preprint submitted to Automatic

Subinhibitory concentrations of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole prevent biofilm formation by Acinetobacter baumannii through inhibition of Csu pilus expression

ABSTRACT Acinetobacter baumannii is emerging as a multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen of increasing threat to human health worldwide. Pili are important bacterial virulence factors, playing a role in attachment to host cells and biofilm formation. The Csu pilus, which is assembled via the chaperone-usher secretion system, has been studied in A. baumannii ATCC 19606. Here we show that, in opposition to previous reports, the common laboratory strain ATCC 17978 produces Csu pili. We found that, although ATCC 17978 was resistant to sulfamethoxazole (Smx) and trimethoprim (Tmp), subinhibitory concentrations of these antibiotics abolished the expression of Csu and consequently produced a dramatic reduction in biofilm formation by ATCC 17978. Smx and Tmp acted synergistically to inhibit the enzymatic systems involved in the bacterial synthesis of tetrahydrofolate (THF), which is required for the synthesis of nucleotides. The effects of these antibiotics were partially relieved by exogenous THF addition, indicating that Smx and Tmp turn off Csu assembly by inducing folate stress. We propose that, for Acinetobacter , nanomolar concentrations of Smx and Tmp represent a “danger signal.” In response to this signal, Csu expression is repressed, allowing biofilm dispersal and escape from potentially inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics. The roles of antibiotics as signaling molecules are being increasingly acknowledged, with clear implications for both the treatment of bacterial diseases and the understanding of complex microbial interactions in the environment. </jats:p

AA-stacked bilayer square ice between graphene layers?

Water confined between two layers with separation of a few Angstrom forms layered two- dimensional ice structure. Using large scale molecular dynamics simulations with the adoptable ReaxFF interatomic potential we found that flat monolayer ice with a rhombic-square structure nucleates between graphene layers which is non-polar and non-ferroelectric. Two layers of water are found to crystallize into a square lattice close to the experimental found AA-stacking [G. Algara- Siller et al. Nature 519, 443445 (2015)]. Each layer has a net dipole moment which are in opposite direction. Bilayer ice is also non-polar and non-ferroelectric. For three layer ice we found that each layer has a crystal structure similar to monolayer ice