Influence of damping on the vanishing of the electro-optic effect in chiral isotropic media

Using first principles, it is demonstrated that radiative damping alone cannot lead to a nonvanishing electro-optic effect in a chiral isotropic medium. This conclusion is in contrast with that obtained by a calculation in which damping effects are included using the standard phenomenological model. We show that these predictions differ because the phenomenological damping equations are valid only in regions where the frequencies of the applied electromagnetic fields are nearly resonant with the atomic transitions. We also show that collisional damping can lead to a nonvanishing electrooptic effect, but with a strength sufficiently weak that it is unlikely to be observable under realistic laboratory conditions

Influence of radiative damping on the optical-frequency susceptibility

Motivated by recent discussions concerning the manner in which damping appears in the electric polarizability, we show that (a) there is a dependence of the nonresonant contribution on the damping and that (b) the damping enters according to the "opposite sign prescription." We also discuss the related question of how the damping rates in the polarizability are related to energy-level decay rates

Parental Beliefs and Perceptions of the Role of Middle Schools in Student Tobacco Use Prevention Activities in Juárez, Mexico

The purpose of this study was to examine parental beliefs and perceptions of the role that schools should play in implementing smoking prevention activities for their children in Juárez, Mexico. The parents were of sixth grade students from six randomly selected middle schools. Schools were classified by school setting and socioeconomic status. A total of 506 surveys were sent to the homes of the parents and 77% (N=390) responded. The majority of the parents (88%) were supportive of smoking prevention activities. Furthermore, mothers were significantly more likely than fathers to agree that the school had an important role to play in smoking prevention activities (p<0.01). Parents of students in the low SES category regardless of school setting were significantly more likely to support the implementation of smoking prevention activities than parents of students who attended either a middle or high SES school setting (p<0.01). However, even though 79% of parent respondents believed their child’s school should get parental input about what should be taught in tobacco prevention programs, only 62% felt that such activities should include homework and projects involving families. These results provide further evidence that if school-based adolescent tobacco prevention programs are to be successful, public health initiatives need to do a much better job not only soliciting and receiving parental input with regard to proposed anti-tobacco curricula but also in convincing parents of the importance of becoming active participants in the process

Parental Beliefs and Perceptions of the Role of Middle Schools in Student Tobacco Use Prevention Activities in Juárez, Mexico

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine parental beliefs and perceptions of the role that schools should play in implementing smoking prevention activities for their children in Juárez, Mexico. The parents were of sixth grade students from six randomly selected middle schools. Schools were classified by school setting and socioeconomic status. A total of 506 surveys were sent to the homes of the parents and 77% (N=390) responded. The majority of the parents (88%) were supportive of smoking prevention activities. Furthermore, mothers were significantly more likely than fathers to agree that the school had an important role to play in smoking prevention activities (p<0.01). Parents of students in the low SES category regardless of school setting were significantly more likely to support the implementation of smoking prevention activities than parents of students who attended either a middle or high SES school setting (p<0.01). However, even though 79% of parent respondents believed their child's school should get parental input about what should be taught in tobacco prevention programs, only 62% felt that such activities should include homework and projects involving families. These results provide further evidence that if school-based adolescent tobacco prevention programs are to be successful, public health initiatives need to do a much better job not only soliciting and receiving parental input with regard to proposed anti-tobacco curricula but also in convincing parents of the importance of becoming active participants in the process

Automating CapCom Using Mobile Agents and Robotic Assistants

Mobile Agents (MA) is an advanced Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) communications and computing system to increase astronaut self-reliance and safety, reducing dependence on continuous monitoring and advising from mission control on Earth. MA is voice controlled and provides information verbally to the astronauts through programs called “personal agents.” The system partly automates the role of CapCom in Apollo-including monitoring and managing navigation, scheduling, equipment deployment, telemetry, health tracking, and scientific data collection. Data are stored automatically in a shared database in the habitat/vehicle and mirrored to a site accessible by a remote science team. The program has been developed iteratively in authentic work contexts, including six years of ethnographic observation of field geology. Analog field experiments in Utah enabled empirically discovering requirements and testing alternative technologies and protocols. We report on the 2004 system configuration, experiments, and results, in which an EVA robotic assistant (ERA) followed geologists approximately 150 m through a winding, narrow canyon. On voice command, the ERA took photographs and panoramas and was directed to serve as a relay on the wireless network

CGM-measured glucose values have a strong correlation with C-peptide, HbA1c and IDAAC, but do poorly in predicting C-peptide levels in the two years following onset of diabetes

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this work was to assess the association between continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) data, HbA1c, insulin-dose-adjusted HbA1c (IDAA1c) and C-peptide responses during the first 2 years following diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted of data collected from a randomised trial assessing the effect of intensive management initiated within 1 week of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, in which mixed-meal tolerance tests were performed at baseline and at eight additional time points through 24 months. CGM data were collected at each visit. RESULTS: Among 67 study participants (mean age [± SD] 13.3 ± 5.7 years), HbA1c was inversely correlated with C-peptide at each time point (p < 0.001), as were changes in each measure between time points (p < 0.001). However, C-peptide at one visit did not predict the change in HbA1c at the next visit and vice versa. Higher C-peptide levels correlated with increased proportion of CGM glucose values between 3.9 and 7.8 mmol/l and lower CV (p = 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively) but not with CGM glucose levels <3.9 mmol/l. Virtually all participants with IDAA1c < 9 retained substantial insulin secretion but when evaluated together with CGM, time in the range of 3.9-7.8 mmol/l and CV did not provide additional value in predicting C-peptide levels. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In the first 2 years after diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, higher C-peptide levels are associated with increased sensor glucose levels in the target range and with lower glucose variability but not hypoglycaemia. CGM metrics do not provide added value over the IDAA1c in predicting C-peptide levels

The Geography of Diabetes in London, Canada: The Need for Local Level Policy for Prevention and Management

Recent reports aimed at improving diabetes care in socially disadvantaged populations suggest that interventions must be tailored to meet the unique needs of the local community—specifically, the community’s geography. We have examined the spatial distribution of diabetes in the context of socioeconomic determinants of health in London (Ontario, Canada) to characterize neighbourhoods in an effort to target these neighbourhoods for local level community-based program planning and intervention. Multivariate spatial-statistical techniques and geographic information systems were used to examine diabetes rates and socioeconomic variables aggregated at the census tract level. Creation of a deprivation index facilitated investigation across multiple determinants of health. Findings from our research identified ‘at risk’ neighbourhoods in London with socioeconomic disadvantage and high diabetes. Future endeavours must continue to identify local level trends in order to support policy development, resource planning and care for improved health outcomes and improved equity in access to care across geographic regions

The global politics of a ‘poncy pillowcase’: Migration and borders in Coronation Street

This article examines the ways in which popular culture stages and supplies resources for agency in everyday life, with particular attention to migration and borders. Drawing upon cultural studies, and specific insights originating from the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, we explore how intersectional identities such as race, ethnicity, class, and gender are experienced in relation to the globalisation of culture and identity in a 2007 Coronation Street storyline. The soap opera genre offers particular insights into how agency emerges in everyday life as migrants and locals navigate the forces of globalisation. We argue that a focus on popular culture can mitigate the problem of isolating migrant experiences from local experiences in migrant-receiving areas

Energetic synchrony throughout the non-breeding season in common guillemots from four colonies

The non‐breeding season presents significant energetic challenges to birds that breed in temperate or polar regions, with clear implications for population dynamics. In seabirds, the environmental conditions at non‐breeding sites drive food availability and the energetic cost of regulatory processes, resulting in variation in diet, behaviour and energetics; however, very few studies have attempted to understand if and how these aspects vary between populations. We investigated whether non‐breeding location influenced diet, behaviour and energetics in the common guillemot Uria aalge. We studied guillemots from four UK breeding colonies, two located on the west coast of Scotland and two on the east. We quantified non‐breeding distribution, foraging behaviour and activity budgets of 39 individuals from July to March, using geolocation–immersion loggers and time‐depth recorders, and used feather stable isotope signatures to infer diet during the post‐breeding moult. We calculated energy expenditure and investigated whether the peak (an indicator of the potential vulnerability to marine threats) varied between colonies. Individuals were spatially segregated according to the coastline they breed on, with west coast guillemots distributed off the west coast of the UK and east coast guillemots distributed off the east coast. Diet and behaviour were more similar in guillemots that shared a breeding coastline than those that did not, as west coast guillemots foraged at a lower trophic level, spent less time diving and engaged in more pelagic foraging than east coast guillemots. However, energy expenditure was remarkably similar between colonies, peaking during late February/early March, indicating that, during our study period, there was high synchrony between colonies in the timing of potential vulnerability to marine threats. Therefore, any anthropogenic changes that result in decreased food availability or increased energy expenditure during late winter may have greater impacts on energy balance, with consequences for population dynamics.</jats:p