Minority language television - social, political and cultural implications

This thesis explores the subject of minority language television by comparing the cases of Wales and Brittany, and in particular the social, political and cultural implications of the Welsh language television channel S4C. The thesis is divided up into two interrelated parts, where the first part is an analysis on state level of French and British media policy, particularly with regards to their linguistic minorities. This part of the thesis deals with the historical, political and institutional background for the provision of minority language media in Breton and Welsh. It takes as points of reference firstly the state, and secondly the minorities in question - the Breton and the Welsh - and shows how a certain policy area in this case broadcasting, can become a focus for minority demands. The thesis describes the historical and political background for the extreme difference in provisions for minority language broadcasting in the two countries. The second part of the thesis takes as a starting point the actual existence of S4C - the Welsh language channel - as a minority language broadcaster, and assesses the social political and cultural implications of this organisation. This part of the thesis examines the minority level, and assesses the potential impact of Welsh language broadcasting, mainly television, on Welsh society in general and the Welsh language in particular

Light cigarette smoking increases risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: Findings from the NHIS Cohort Study

Very few studies have examined the association between light cigarette smoking (i.e., ≤5 cigarettes per day) and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the association of light cigarette smoking with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adults in the United States. Data were from 13 waves of the National Health Interview Survey (1997 to 2009) that were linked to the National Death Index records through December 31, 2011. A total of 329,035 participants aged ≥18 years in the United States were included. Deaths were from all cause, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory disease and were confirmed by death certification. During a median follow-up of 8.2 years, 34,862 participants died, of which 8415 were from cancer, 9031 from CVD, and 2040 from respiratory disease. Compared with never-smokers, participants who smoked 1-2 (hazard ratios (HR) = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.73-2.16) and 3-5 cigarettes (HR = 1.99, 1.83-2.17) per day were at higher risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment for demographic variables, lifestyle factors and physician-diagnosis of chronic disease. The associations were stronger for respiratory disease-specific mortality, followed by cancer-specific mortality and CVD-specific mortality. For example, the HRs (95% CIs) of smoking 1-2 cigarettes per day were 9.75 (6.15-15.46), 2.28 (1.84-2.84) and 1.93 (1.58-2.36), respectively, for these three cause-specific mortalities. This study indicates that light cigarette smoking increases risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in US adults

The influence of spatial pattern on visual short-term memory for contrast

Several psychophysical studies of visual short-term memory (VSTM) have shown high-fidelity storage capacity for many properties of visual stimuli. On judgments of the spatial frequency of gratings, for example, discrimination performance does not decrease significantly, even for memory intervals of up to 30 s. For other properties, such as stimulus orientation and contrast, however, such “perfect storage” behavior is not found, although the reasons for this difference remain unresolved. Here, we report two experiments in which we investigated the nature of the representation of stimulus contrast in VSTM using spatially complex, two-dimensional random-noise stimuli. We addressed whether information about contrast per se is retained during the memory interval by using a test stimulus with the same spatial structure but either the same or the opposite local contrast polarity, with respect to the comparison (i.e., remembered) stimulus. We found that discrimination thresholds got steadily worse with increasing duration of the memory interval. Furthermore, performance was better when the test and comparison stimuli had the same local contrast polarity than when they were contrast-reversed. Finally, when a noise mask was introduced during the memory interval, its disruptive effect was maximal when the spatial configuration of its constituent elements was uncorrelated with those of the comparison and test stimuli. These results suggest that VSTMfor contrast is closely tied to the spatial configuration of stimuli and is not transformed into a more abstract representation

Treatment of Advanced Emphysema with Emphysematous Lung Sealant (AeriSeal (R))

Background: This report summarizes initial tests of an emphysematous lung synthetic polymer sealant (ELS) designed to reduce lung volume in patients with advanced emphysema. Objectives: The primary study objective was to define a therapeutic strategy to optimize treatment safety and effectiveness. Methods: ELS therapy was administered bronchoscopically to 25 patients with heterogeneous emphysema in an open-label, noncontrolled study at 6 centers in Germany. Treatment was performed initially at 2-4 subsegments. After 12 weeks, patients were eligible for repeat therapy to a total of 6 sites. Safety and efficacy were assessed after 6 months. Responses were evaluated in terms of changes from baseline in lung physiology, functional capacity, and health-related quality of life. Follow-up is available for 21 of 25 patients. Results: Treatment was well tolerated. There were no treatment-related deaths (i.e. within 90 days of treatment), and an acceptable short-and long-term safety profile. Physiological and clinical benefits were observed at 24 weeks. Efficacy responses were better among Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage III patients {[}n = 14; change in residual volume/total lung capacity (Delta RV/TLC) = -7.4 +/- 10.3%; Delta forced expiratory volume in 1 s (Delta FEV(1)) = +15.9 +/- 22.6%; change in forced vital capacity (Delta FVC) = +24.1 +/- 22.7%; change in carbon monoxide lung diffusion capacity (Delta DLCO) = +19.3 +/- 34.8%; change in 6-min walk test (Delta 6MWD) = +28.7 +/- 59.6 m; change in Medical Research Council Dyspnea (Delta MRCD) score = -1.0 +/- 1.04 units; change in St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (Delta SGRQ) score = -9.9 +/- 15.3 units] than for GOLD stage IV patients (n = 7; Delta RV/TLC = -0.5 +/- 6.4%; Delta FEV 1 = +2.3 +/- 12.3%; Delta FVC = +2.6 +/- 21.1%; Delta DLCO = -2.8 +/- 17.2%; Delta 6MWD = +28.3 +/- 58.4 m; Delta MRCD = 0.3 +/- 0.81 units; Delta SGRQ = -6.7 +/- 7.0 units). Conclusions: ELS therapy shows promise for treating patients with advanced heterogeneous emphysema. Additional studies to assess responses in a larger cohort with a longer follow-up are warranted. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Long-term follow-up of disability pensioners having musculoskeletal disorders

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previously we have conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effect of a brief cognitive behavioural program with a vocational approach aiming to return disability pensioners with back pain to work, as compared to no intervention. One year after the intervention, 10 participants (22%) who received the program and 5 (11%) in the control group reported to have entered a return to work process. The aims of this study were to evaluate long-term effects of the intervention, and compare this effect to 2 reference populations not participating in the original trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three groups of disability pensioners were investigated: 1) Disability pensioners having back pain (n = 89) previously participating in the RCT (randomized to either a brief cognitive behavioural intervention or to a control group), 2) 342 disability pensioners having back pain, but refusing to participate in the study and 3) 449 disability pensioners having other musculoskeletal disorders than back pain. Primary outcome was return to work, defined as a reduction in payment of disability pension.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only 2 of 89 (2.3%) participants from the RCT had reduced disability pension at 3-years follow-up, both from the control group. None of the participants that had been in a process of returning to work after 1 year had actually gained employment at 3-years follow-up. In the 2 groups not participating in the previous RCT, only 4 (1.2%) and 8 (1.6%) had returned to work after 3 years respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The number of pensioners who returned to work was negligible in all groups regardless of having participated in a cognitive behavioural intervention or not.</p

Modeling the effects of concentration of solid nanoparticles in liquid feedstock injection on high-velocity suspension flame spray process

This paper presents the effects of the concentration of solid nanoparticles in the liquid feedstock injection on the high-velocity suspension flame spray (HVSFS) process. Four different concentrations of solid nanoparticles in suspension droplets with various droplet diameters are used to study gas dynamics, vaporization rate, and secondary breakup. Two types of injections, viz. surface and group, are used. The group-type injection increases the efficiency of droplet disintegration and the evaporation process and reduces the gas cooling. The initiation of the fragmentation process is difficult for small droplets carrying a high concentration of nanoparticles. Also, smaller droplets undergo rapid vaporization, leaving clogs of nanoparticles in the middle of the barrel. For larger droplets, severe fragmentation occurs inside the combustion chamber. For a higher concentration of nanoparticles, droplets exit the gun without complete evaporation. The results suggest that, in coating applications involving a higher concentration of nanoparticles, smaller droplet sizes are preferred