Clyde tributaries : report of urban stream sediment and surface water geochemistry for Glasgow

This report presents the results of an urban drainage geochemical survey carried out jointly by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and Glasgow City Council (GCC) during June 2003. 118 stream sediment and 122 surface water samples were collected at a sample density of 1 per 1 km2 from all tributaries draining into the River Clyde within the GCC administrative area. The study was carried out as part of the BGS systematic Geochemical Surveys of Urban Environments (GSUE) programme. Stream sediment and surface water samples underwent analysis for approximately 46 chemical elements including contaminants such as As, Al, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se, V and Zn according to standard GSUE procedures. In addition, parameters such as ammonium, asbestos and Hg as well as organic contaminants such as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organo-tin compounds were assessed. The aim of the project was to provide an overview of urban drainage geochemistry in Glasgow to link to an on-going sister project, which is investigating the geochemistry of the Clyde estuary. This report presents the initial findings of the Clyde tributaries survey but it is envisaged that the data will be interpreted in more detail as part of a wider Clyde basin study once the Clyde estuary survey is completed

Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling

Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young people’s motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects

Radiation densitometry in tree-ring analysis: a review and procedure manual

An x-ray densitometry of wood facility is being established by the Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge Natioanl Laboratory (ORNL). The objective is to apply tree-ring data to determine whether or not there is a fertilizer effect on tree growth from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide since the beginning of the industrial era. Intra-ring width and density data, including ring-mass will be detemined from tree-ring samples collected from sites located throughout the United States and Canada. This report is designed as a guide to assist ORNL scientists in building the x-ray densitometry system. The history and development of x-ray densitometry in tree-ring research is examined and x-ray densitometry is compared with other techniques. Relative wood and tree characteristics are described as are environmental and genetic factors affecting tree growth responses. Methods in x-ray densitometry are examined in detail and the techniques used at four operating laboratories are described. Some ways that dendrochronology has been applied in dating, in wood quality, and environmental studies are presented, and a number of tree-ring studies in Canada are described. An annotated bibliography of radiation densitometry in tree-ring analysis and related subjects is included

In medium T-matrix for superfluid nuclear matter

We study a generalized ladder resummation in the superfluid phase of the nuclear matter. The approach is based on a conserving generalization of the usual T-matrix approximation including also anomalous self-energies and propagators. The approximation here discussed is a generalization of the usual mean-field BCS approach and of the in medium T-matrix approximation in the normal phase. The numerical results in this work are obtained in the quasi-particle approximation. Properties of the resulting self-energy, superfluid gap and spectral functions are studied.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures, Introduction rewritten, Refs. adde

Falls Predict Fractures Independently of FRAX Probability: A Meta-Analysis of the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study

Although prior falls are a well-established predictor of future fracture, there is currently limited evidence regarding the specific value of falls history in fracture risk assessment relative to that of other clinical risk factors and bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. We therefore investigated, across the three Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study cohorts, whether past falls predicted future fracture independently of FRAX and whether these associations varied with age and follow-up time. Elderly men were recruited from MrOS Sweden, Hong Kong, and USA. Baseline data included falls history (over the preceding 12 months), clinical risk factors, BMD at femoral neck, and calculated FRAX probabilities. An extension of Poisson regression was used to investigate the associations between falls, FRAX probability, and incident fracture, adjusting for age, time since baseline, and cohort in base models; further models were used to investigate interactions with age and follow-up time. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to synthesize the individual country associations. Information on falls and FRAX probability was available for 4365 men in USA (mean age 73.5 years; mean follow-up 10.8 years), 1823 men in Sweden (mean age 75.4 years; mean follow-up 8.7 years), and 1669 men in Hong Kong (mean age 72.4 years; mean follow-up 9.8 years). Rates of past falls were similar at 20%, 16%, and 15%, respectively. Across all cohorts, past falls predicted incident fracture at any site (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49, 1.90), major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) (HR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.33, 1.83), and hip fracture (HR = 1.61; 95% CI 1.27, 2.05). Relationships between past falls and incident fracture remained robust after adjustment for FRAX probability: adjusted HR (95% CI) any fracture: 1.63 (1.45, 1.83); MOF: 1.51 (1.32, 1.73); and hip: 1.54 (1.21, 1.95). In conclusion, past falls predicted incident fracture independently of FRAX probability, confirming the potential value of falls history in fracture risk assessment. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc

Non-invasive detection of the evolution of the charge states of a double dot system

Coupled quantum dots are potential candidates for qubit systems in quantum computing. We use a non-invasive voltage probe to study the evolution of a coupled dot system from a situation where the dots are coupled to the leads to a situation where they are isolated from the leads. Our measurements allow us to identify the movement of electrons between the dots and we can also identify the presence of a charge trap in our system by detecting the movement of electrons between the dots and the charge trap. The data also reveals evidence of electrons moving between the dots via excited states of either the single dots or the double dot molecule.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B. 4 pages, 4 figure

Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2):An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis

BackgroundPreterm-labour-associated preterm birth is a common cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in twin pregnancy. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce preterm-labour-associated preterm birth by 40% or greater in women with a twin pregnancy and a short cervix.Methods and findingsWe conducted an open-label randomised controlled trial in 57 hospital antenatal clinics in the UK and Europe. From 1 April 2015 to 14 February 2019, 2,228 women with a twin pregnancy underwent cervical length screening between 18 weeks 0 days and 20 weeks 6 days of gestation. In total, 503 women with cervical length ≤ 35 mm were randomly assigned to pessary in addition to standard care (n = 250, mean age 32.4 years, mean cervical length 29 mm, with pessary inserted in 230 women [92.0%]) or standard care alone (n = 253, mean age 32.7 years, mean cervical length 30 mm). The pessary was inserted before 21 completed weeks of gestation and removed at between 35 and 36 weeks or before birth if earlier. The primary obstetric outcome, spontaneous onset of labour and birth before 34 weeks 0 days of gestation, was present in 46/250 (18.4%) in the pessary group compared to 52/253 (20.6%) following standard care alone (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.87 [95% CI 0.55-1.38], p = 0.54). The primary neonatal outcome-a composite of any of stillbirth, neonatal death, periventricular leukomalacia, early respiratory morbidity, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, or proven sepsis, from birth to 28 days after the expected date of delivery-was present in 67/500 infants (13.4%) in the pessary group compared to 76/506 (15.0%) following standard care alone (aOR 0.86 [95% CI 0.54-1.36], p = 0.50). The positive and negative likelihood ratios of a short cervix (≤35 mm) to predict preterm birth before 34 weeks were 2.14 and 0.83, respectively. A meta-analysis of data from existing publications (4 studies, 313 women) and from STOPPIT-2 indicated that a cervical pessary does not reduce preterm birth before 34 weeks in women with a short cervix (risk ratio 0.74 [95% CI 0.50-1.11], p = 0.15). No women died in either arm of the study; 4.4% of babies in the Arabin pessary group and 5.5% of babies in the standard treatment group died in utero or in the neonatal period (p = 0.53). Study limitations include lack of power to exclude a smaller than 40% reduction in preterm labour associated preterm birth, and to be conclusive about subgroup analyses.ConclusionsThese results led us to reject our hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce the risk of the primary outcome by 40%. Smaller treatment effects cannot be ruled out.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry ISRCTN 02235181. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02235181

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter