New WHO Violence Prevention Information System, an interactive knowledge platform of scientific findings on violence.

Scientific information on violence can be difficult to compile and understand. It is scattered across websites, databases, technical reports and academic journals, and rarely addresses all types of violence. In response, in October 2017 WHO released the Violence Prevention Information System or Violence Info, an online interactive collection of scientific information about the prevalence, consequences, risk factors and preventability of all forms of interpersonal violence. It covers homicide, child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, elder abuse and sexual violence

Reaction Time of a Group of Physics Students

The reaction time of a group of students majoring in Physics is reported here. Strong co-relation between fatigue, reaction time and performance have been seen and may be useful for academicians and administrators responsible of working out time-tables, course structures, students counsellings etc.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Multivariate side-band subtraction using probabilistic event weights

A common situation in experimental physics is to have a signal which can not be separated from a non-interfering background through the use of any cut. In this paper, we describe a procedure for determining, on an event-by-event basis, a quality factor ($Q$-factor) that a given event originated from the signal distribution. This procedure generalizes the "side-band" subtraction method to higher dimensions without requiring the data to be divided into bins. The $Q$-factors can then be used as event weights in subsequent analysis procedures, allowing one to more directly access the true spectrum of the signal.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Health-related quality of life and mental health problems after a disaster: Are chronically ill survivors more vulnerable to health problems?

Studies have shown that the chronically ill are at higher risk for reduced health-related quality of life (HRQL) and for mental health problems. A combination with traumatic events might increase this risk. This longitudinal study among 1216 survivors of a disaster examines whether chronically ill survivors had a different course of HRQL and mental health problems compared to survivors without chronic diseases. HRQL and mental health problems were measured 3 weeks, 18 months and 4 years post-disaster. Data on pre-disaster chronic diseases was obtained from the electronic medical records of general practitioners. Random coefficient analyses showed significant interaction effects for social functioning, bodily pain and emotional role limitations at T2 only. Chronically ill survivors did not consistently have a different course of general health, physical role limitations, and mental health problems. In conclusion, chronic diseases were not an important risk factor for impaired HRQL and mental health problems among survivors

Violence Info methodology

The Violence Prevention Information System (Violence Info) aims to improve access to scientific information about all types of interpersonal violence, including findings on prevalence rates, risk factors, consequences, and prevention and response strategies, through creating a data repository and displaying the information in a user-friendly format on a website. This document details the methodology used to develop the Violence Info data repository and website

Views and experiences of hepatitis C testing and diagnosis among people who inject drugs: Systematic review of qualitative research

Background: Many developed countries are facing a major challenge to improve identification of individuals acutely and chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We explored the views and experiences of people who inject drugs (PWID) in relation to HCV testing, and diagnosis through a review and synthesis of qualitative research. Methods: Based on the thematic synthesis of qualitative research. Searches were conducted in 14 databases and supplemented by reference checking, hand searching of selected journals, and searches of relevant websites. Studies of any qualitative design that examined the views and experiences of, and attitudes towards, HCV testing and diagnosis among PWID or practitioners involved in their care were included. Key themes and sub-themes were systematically coded according to the meaning and content of the findings of each study which proceeded to the preparation of a narrative account of the synthesis. Results: 28 qualitative studies were identified. We identified a number of overarching descriptive themes in the literature, finding overall that PWID hold complex and differing views and experiences of testing and diagnosis. Three major themes emerged: missed opportunities for the provision of information and knowledge; shifting priorities between HCV testing and other needs; and testing as unexpected and routine. Evidence of missed opportunities for the provision of knowledge and information about HCV were clear, contributing to delays in seeking testing and providing a context to poor experiences of diagnosis. Influenced by the nature of their personal circumstances, perceptions of the risk associated with HCV and the prioritisation of other needs acted both to encourage and discourage the uptake of HCV testing. Undergoing HCV testing as part of routine health assessment, and an unawareness of being testing was common. An unexpected positive diagnosis exacerbated anxiety and confusion. Conclusions: This review has identified that there are modifiable factors that affect the uptake of HCV testing and experiences of HCV diagnosis among PWID. Intervention development should focus on addressing these factors. There is a need for further research that engages PWID from a diverse range of populations to identify interventions, strategies and approaches that they consider valuable

Numerical studies of the Lagrangian approach for reconstruction of the conductivity in a waveguide

We consider an inverse problem of reconstructing the conductivity function in a hyperbolic equation using single space-time domain noisy observations of the solution on the backscattering boundary of the computational domain. We formulate our inverse problem as an optimization problem and use Lagrangian approach to minimize the corresponding Tikhonov functional. We present a theorem of a local strong convexity of our functional and derive error estimates between computed and regularized as well as exact solutions of this functional, correspondingly. In numerical simulations we apply domain decomposition finite element-finite difference method for minimization of the Lagrangian. Our computational study shows efficiency of the proposed method in the reconstruction of the conductivity function in three dimensions

Effectiveness of interventions to increase hepatitis C testing uptake among high-risk groups: a systematic review

Background: People who inject drugs are at the greatest risk of acquiring hepatitis C virus infection in many high-income countries, including those in Europe. Our review examined the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing hepatitis C virus testing uptake. Methods: We undertook a systematic review of controlled studies. Searches of 13 databases were supplemented with citation searching, and manual searches of reference lists and websites. Studies of interventions that aimed to increase testing uptake among high-risk groups were included. Testing uptake was our primary outcome measure of interest and secondary outcomes were engagement in follow-up services and treatment. A narrative synthesis was undertaken. Results: Eight controlled studies were included. Three studies examined interventions in primary care; one examined dried blood spot testing as an alternative method of testing, and two examined outreach provision. Two further studies examined interventions to improve hepatitis C management. Targeted case finding in primary care, support and training for primary care practitioners, offering alternative testing and provision of outreach testing all increased uptake of testing; however, intervention effects were variable. Conclusions: Evidence from the available studies suggests that increases in testing uptake can be achieved. Careful attention needs to be paid to the resource implications associated with implementation of interventions in primary care settings and also of the potential for interventions to improve outcomes once a positive diagnosis has been made. Further research on the cost-effectiveness of the intervention approaches examined in this review is required

Manufacture and electromechanical characterization of highly conductive multilayer-graphene/polydimethylsiloxane flexible paper

Multilayer graphene (MLG) micro- and nanosheets have been investigated for use as nanofiller in polymer composite in order to obtain multifunctional materials with enhanced electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. In order to take advantage of the conductivity properties of MLG sheets, a large amount of nanofiller should be used. Although, increasing filler loading alters the mechanical properties of the composite because of serious filler agglomeration. It has been shown that a promising approach to realize electrically conductive light-weight composite is to incorporate an electrically conductive graphene paper (GP), obtained by vacuum filtration of a nanofillers suspension, into the polymer matrix. One advantage of infiltrating the GP with polymer is that the tensile modulus of the composite can be greatly improved as compared with either GP or neat polymer, without weakening the electrical properties of the highly continuous nanofillers network formed in the paper making process. In this work we present experimental results related to the fabrication process and the electromechanical behaviour of a free standing, highly-conductive MLG paper impregnated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

Relationships between adverse childhood experiences and adult mental well-being: results from an English national household survey.

BACKGROUND: Individuals' childhood experiences can strongly influence their future health and well-being. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as abuse and dysfunctional home environments show strong cumulative relationships with physical and mental illness yet less is known about their effects on mental well-being in the general population. METHODS: A nationally representative household survey of English adults (n = 3,885) measuring current mental well-being (Short Edinburgh-Warwick Mental Well-being Scale SWEMWBS) and life satisfaction and retrospective exposure to nine ACEs. RESULTS: Almost half of participants (46.4 %) had suffered at least one ACE and 8.3 % had suffered four or more. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for low life satisfaction and low mental well-being increased with the number of ACEs. AORs for low ratings of all individual SWEMWBS components also increased with ACE count, particularly never or rarely feeling close to others. Of individual ACEs, growing up in a household affected by mental illness and suffering sexual abuse had the most relationships with markers of mental well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood adversity has a strong cumulative relationship with adult mental well-being. Comprehensive mental health strategies should incorporate interventions to prevent ACEs and moderate their impacts from the very earliest stages of life