Development of high speed power thyristor: The gate assisted turn-off thyristor

A high speed power switch with unique turn-off capability was developed. This gate-assisted turn-off thyristor was rated at 609 V and 50 A with turn-off times of 2 microsec. Twenty-two units were delivered for evaluation in a series inverter circuit. In addition, test circuits designed to relate to the series inverter application were built and demonstrated

Incidence of malignant neoplasms among HIV-infected persons in Scotland

Among 2574 persons diagnosed with HIV throughout Scotland and observed over the period 1981-1996, cancer incidence compared to the general population was 11 times higher overall; among homosexual/bisexual males, it was 21 times higher and among injecting drug users, haemophiliacs and heterosexuals it was five times higher, mostly due to AIDS-defining neoplasms. However, liver, lung and skin cancers (all non-AIDS-defining) were also significantly increased

Cardiovascular disease and air pollution in Scotland: no association or insufficient data and study design?

<p><b>Background:</b> Coronary heart disease and stroke are leading causes of mortality and ill health in Scotland, and clear associations have been found in previous studies between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to use routinely available data to examine whether there is any evidence of an association between short-term exposure to particulate matter (measured as PM10, particles less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre) and hospital admissions due to cardiovascular disease, in the two largest cities in Scotland during the years 2000 to 2006.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The study utilised an ecological time series design, and the analysis was based on overdispersed Poisson log-linear models.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> No consistent associations were found between PM10 concentrations and cardiovascular hospital admissions in either of the cities studied, as all of the estimated relative risks were close to one, and all but one of the associated 95% confidence intervals contained the null risk of one.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> This study suggests that in small cities, where air quality is relatively good, then either PM10 concentrations have no effect on cardiovascular ill health, or that the routinely available data and the corresponding study design are not sufficient to detect an association.</p&gt

On the clarity of the musical stave

The staves of 63 scores of popular keyboard music from 50 publishers were measured. The staves had similar height but lines that varied in thickness from 0.1 mm to 0.45 mm. Evidence from visual psychophysics suggests that when the stave has thick lines, perceptual distortions are likely to affect the clarity of the score adversely. Students were asked to sight-read scores comprising random notes (“chromatic”) or random notes in the key of G. The scores had staves with lines that were 0.1 mm or 0.4 mm thick (current typographic practice). Twice as many errors were made when the staves had thick lines, although the scores were then read more slowly. Scores in the key of G were read more accurately than the “chromatic” scores, but those with thick lines were read with as many errors as “chromatic” scores with thin lines. There was a tendency for individuals with susceptibility to pattern glare to read the scores with thick lines relatively slowly. The findings suggest that perceptual distortions can impair sight-reading of music manuscript because of the pattern from the lines of the stave; using thinner lines can increase both sight reading accuracy and speed. </jats:p

Risk of cancer following primary total hip replacement or primary resurfacing arthroplasty of the hip : A retrospective cohort study in Scotland

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Lee Barnsdale, Doug Clark, and Richard Dobbie for advice and assistance with data preparation before analysis, and to the three anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Is the Scottish population living dangerously? Prevalence of multiple risk factors: the Scottish Health Survey 2003

&lt;b&gt;Background:&lt;/b&gt; Risk factors are often considered individually, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of combinations of multiple behavioural risk factors and their association with socioeconomic determinants.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; Multinomial logistic regression was used to model the associations between socioeconomic factors and multiple risk factors from data in the Scottish Health Survey 2003. Prevalence of five main behavioural risk factors - smoking alcohol, diet, overweight/obesity, and physical inactivity, and the odds in relation to demographic, individual and area socioeconomic factors.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; Full data were available on 6,574 subjects (80.7% of the survey sample). Nearly the whole adult population (97.5%) reported to have at least one behavioural risk factor; while 55% have three or more risk factors; and nearly 20% have four or all five risk factors. The most important determinants for having four or five multiple risk factors were low educational attainment which conferred around a 3-fold increased odds compared to high education; and residence in the most deprived communities (relative to least deprived) which had greater than 3-fold increased odds.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; The prevalence of multiple behavioural risk factors was high and the prevalence of absence of all risk factors very low. These behavioural patterns were socioeconomically determined. Policy to address factors needs to be joined up and better consider underlying socioeconomic circumstances.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt