Resilience to health shocks: How do family information and support networks respond to unexpected negative health events?

Social networks can respond to outside shocks by 'turtling up' (clus-ering around strong ties) instead of adapting by activating more weak ties to obtain new information, however this has not been shown in smaller, personal information and support networks. Therefore, the goal of this study was to explore whether these networks respond to shocks similarly. To do this, we evaluated the impacts of health shocks, unforeseen and disruptive health events, on the structure (e.g. network size/transitivity and tie strength/type) and function, i.e. ability to provide resources like information and social support, of information and support networks for families managing chronic illness. Using clustered sampling methods, families managing HIV/AIDS or type 2 diabetes were recruited. Longitudinal interview, survey and network data were collected from 28 families over a period of 2.5 years, with up to five contacts per family. We report descriptive statistics and random effects models using family-level data for network change in relation to health shocks. Health shocks were not significantly associated with changes in structure or function of family networks. Some change, however, was observed, with most measures trending down from one time to the next including proportions of weak ties and informational support ties, indicating these networks are not adapting by accessing novel information channels. Although further work is needed, the patterns of change observed did not match network responses to shocks found in prior work implying a possible difference in the ways that these networks respond to shocks and in what is actually driving observed changes

The mixed problem in L^p for some two-dimensional Lipschitz domains

We consider the mixed problem for the Laplace operator in a class of Lipschitz graph domains in two dimensions with Lipschitz constant at most 1. The boundary of the domain is decomposed into two disjoint sets D and N. We suppose the Dirichlet data, f_D has one derivative in L^p(D) of the boundary and the Neumann data is in L^p(N). We find conditions on the domain and the sets D and N so that there is a p_0>1 so that for p in the interval (1,p_0), we may find a unique solution to the mixed problem and the gradient of the solution lies in L^p

Discovering a Joomla Exploit for Possible Malware: Social Engineering and a PHP BASE64 GIF Exploit

his article discusses the importance of Joomla as a Content Management System that is used by 2.7% of the web and how a possible new malware exploit has been discovered. The PHP BASE64 malware exploit is a well-documented exploit of PHP but the implementation of this exploit as it relates to Joomla is a very ingenious method not previously used before, as far as the authors were able to discover. In this particularly case, PHP code is embedded in a GIF file to produce a very sophisticated and unique malware exploit to Joomla

European mineral statistics 2009-13 : a product of the World Mineral Statistics database

This volume is the latest edition of a series that began in 2002 following the replacement of ‘World Mineral Statistics’ with ‘World Mineral Production’. It contains mineral production, import and export data for more than 70 mineral commodities, for 36 European countries including all EU Member States and EU Candidate Countries, plus Norway and Switzerland. These data are presented in two sections: by individual country and by commodity; the latter is illustrated by graphics. It remains the only freely available and up-to-date publication dedicated to statistical information about minerals and metals in Europe

European Mineral Statistics 2010-14: a product of the World Mineral statistics database

European Mineral Statistics provides statistical information about minerals and metals in Europe. It provides the essential background intelligence for any European minerals-related activities. Production, export and import tables are presented for all EU members and EU candidate countries, plus Norway and Switzerland, in two sections: •by individual country •by commodity, with bullets on salient features and graphics More than 70 different mineral commodities are included from Aluminium to Zirconium, plus statistics relating to primary aggregates and cement. The book also includes commentary discussing the different categories of minerals – construction minerals, industrial minerals, metals and energy minerals – in the European context and contains general information on the compilation of data

Fibrinogen E fragment selectively disrupts the vasculature and inhibits the growth of tumours in a syngeneic murine model

We recently demonstrated that a fragment of human fibrinogen, fibrinogen E fragment, inhibits the migration and differentiation of human endothelial cells in vitro. Here we show that it exerts similar effects on murine endothelial cells in vitro, and selectively disrupts tumour endothelium in vivo, causing widespread intravascular thrombosis and retarding the growth of CT26 tumours in a syngeneic murine model

Community outbreaks of group A Streptococcus revealed by genome sequencing

The frequent occurrence of disease outbreaks in humans caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS) is an on-going public health threat. Conventional bacterial typing methods lack the discriminatory power to confidently confirm or refute outbreaks in hospital and community settings. Microbial whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides a potential solution to this, but, there has been limited population-based surveillance with accompanying sequence data. We performed retrospective genomic surveillance of 93 clinical GAS isolates from individuals in a defined geographic region. Detailed clinical information was obtained for closely related clusters of isolates. Genomic sequence data was contextualised through comparison with international data. We identified 18 different emm genotypes within our bacterial population, and revealed both highly diverse and closely related isolates. This high level of diversity was maintained even in the context of international sequence data. We also identified two emm1 clusters, and one emm3 cluster, of closely-related isolates that differed only by 1 to 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Analysis of clinical information identified no healthcare associated contact between patients, indicating cryptic community transmission. Our findings suggest that genomic surveillance of GAS would increase detection of transmission and highlight opportunities for intervention

Framing a Consent Form to Improve Consent Understanding and Determine How This Affects Willingness to Participate in HIV Cure Research: An Experimental Survey Study

HIV cure research carries serious risks and negligible benefits. We investigated how participants understand these risks and what influences their willingness to participate. Through internet-based and in-person convenience sampling, 86 HIV+ participants completed an experimental survey. Participants were randomized to read a standard consent form describing a hypothetical HIV cure study or one adapted using Fuzzy Trace Theory—a decision-making model to facilitate complex information processing. We measured consent understanding and cognitive (e.g., safe/harmful) and affective (e.g., concerning, satisfying) evaluations of HIV cure research. Participants who read the adapted consent form had improved consent understanding, but only positive affective evaluations were associated with a willingness to participate. Consent processes can use decision-making theories to facilitate comprehension of study information

Does sleep affect alcohol-related attention bias?

Background: Poor quality sleep can lead to executive function deficits, including problems with inhibitory control. Similarly, substance use is associated with decreased inhibitory control for substance-related stimuli. Therefore, this study investigated whether sleep quality is associated with attentional bias. Methods: Participants were 39 university students (18-28 years, 29 females). An eye tracking task was used to measure attentional bias for alcohol-related stimuli. Alcohol usage and sleep quality were measured using self- report questionnaires (AUDIT and PSQI respectively). Results: An attentional bias related to alcohol usage was observed within the participants. However, there was no association observed with sleep quality. Conclusion: Therefore, we conclude that sleep quality may not influence attentional biases