Biochemical diagnosis of ventricular dysfunction in elderly patients in general practice: observational study

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of measuring plasma concentrations of B type natriuretic peptide in the diagnosis of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in an unselected group of elderly people. Design: Observational study. Setting: General practice with four centres in Poole, Dorset. Participants: 155 elderly patients aged 70 to 84 years. Main outcome measures: Diagnostic characteristics of plasma B type natriuretic peptide measured by radioimmunoassay as a test for left ventricular systolic dysfunction assessed by echocardiography. Results: The median plasma concentration of B type natriuretic peptide was 39.3 pmol/l in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and 15.8 pmol/l in those with normal function. The proportional area under the receiver operator curve was 0.85. At a cut-off point of 18.7 pmol/l the test sensitivity was 92% and the predictive value 18%. Conclusions: Plasma concentration of B type natriuretic peptide could be used effectively as an initial test in a community screening programme and, possibly, using a low cut-off point, as a means of ruling out left ventricular systolic dysfunction. It is, however, not a good test to “rule in” the diagnosis, and access to echocardiography remains essential for general practitioners to diagnose heart failure early

High impact activities in parks: best management practice and future research

Off-road driving, horseriding, rock climbing and similar activities can be lucrative for tour operators and important for local recreational groups, but contentious for management of national parks and protected areas, both because of safety and liability and because of potentially high environmental impacts. These include spreading weeds and pathogens, starting fires and crushing bird nests on beaches, amongst many others. In Australia as elsewhere, off-road vehicles and horses are allowed only in some places in some parks, and often only under permit. We have very little reliable scientific information to-date on just how serious these impacts may be, and on how well they might be managed through minimal-impact practices such as vehicle washdowns, stockfeed processing and seasonal closures. Such information can only be obtained through site specific ecological studies of the plants, animals and watercourses likely to be affected, differentiating tourism impacts from natural causes and fluctuations. This report examines management strategies for these activities worldwide and in Australia. Suggestions for best management practice and future research agendas are set

The fermion mass at next-to-leading order in the HTL effective theory

The calculation of the real part of a quasi-particle dispersion relation at next-to-leading order in the hard thermal loop effective theory is a very difficult problem. Even though the hard thermal loop effective theory is almost 20 years old, there is only one next-to-leading order calculation of the real part of a quasi-particle dispersion relation in the literature. In this paper, we calculate the fermion mass in QED and QCD at next-to-leading order. For QED the result is M=eT/sqrt{8} * [1-(1.427 \pm 0.02)e/4pi] and for QCD with N_f=2 and N_c=3 we obtain M=gT/sqrt{6} * [1+(1.867 \pm 0.02)g/4pi].Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

On the shoulders of giants

British psychologists such as Hans Eysenck and Jeffrey Gray have been giants in the field of individual differences, offering psychobiological accounts of major personality traits such as extraversion and neuroticism, as well as the cluster of impulsive antisocial sensation-seeking personality facets, marked by Eysenck's psychoticism scale. These theories have stimulated vibrant research programmes worldwide, including several within British psychology departments. This article provides a snapshot of classic and contemporary British research into the affective, behavioural and cognitive processes which characterise personality

Measurement of nuclear effects in neutrino interactions with minimal dependence on neutrino energy

We present a phenomenological study of nuclear effects in neutrino charged-current interactions, using transverse kinematic imbalances in exclusive measurements. Novel observables with minimal dependence on neutrino energy are proposed to study quasielastic scattering, and especially resonance production. They should be able to provide direct constraints on nuclear effects in neutrino- and antineutrino-nucleus interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted version by PR

Renormalisation Invariance and the Soft β\beta-Functions

We demonstrate that the soft supersymmetry-breaking terms in a N=1 theory can be linked by simple renormalisation group invariant relations which are valid to all orders of perturbation theory. In the special case of finite N=1 theories, the soft terms preserve finiteness to all orders.Comment: 9 pages, tex, Uses harvmac (big

Covering California's Kids: The Impact of Healthy Kids on Access, Health Status and Costs

Summarizes how the implementation of CHIs designed to improve children's access to primary care helped reduce preventable hospitalizations among lower-income children. Includes policy implications