Generalized Convexity and Inequalities

Let R+ = (0,infinity) and let M be the family of all mean values of two numbers in R+ (some examples are the arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic means). Given m1, m2 in M, we say that a function f : R+ to R+ is (m1,m2)-convex if f(m1(x,y)) < or = m2(f(x),f(y)) for all x, y in R+ . The usual convexity is the special case when both mean values are arithmetic means. We study the dependence of (m1,m2)-convexity on m1 and m2 and give sufficient conditions for (m1,m2)-convexity of functions defined by Maclaurin series. The criteria involve the Maclaurin coefficients. Our results yield a class of new inequalities for several special functions such as the Gaussian hypergeometric function and a generalized Bessel function.Comment: 17 page

Accentuate the negative

A survey of mean inequalities with real weights is given.Comment: 16 pages 3 figure

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of electronic cigarettes versus nicotine patch for smoking cessation

PMCID: PMC3602285This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The intersection of social capital and power: An application to rural communities

The central aim of the article is to examine the relationship between power and social capital within the cultural, historical and spatial contingencies of three rural communities in Australia. These communities are West Wyalong NSW, Broken Hill NSW and Maleny Qld. Each has variously experienced the threats of deindustrialisation, revitalisation, and commercial development pressures (Beaver and Cohen, 2004). To understand how these communities have addressed their circumstances we examine each in turn within the overriding analytical framework of social capital. We find that social capital is used in different ways in each community. The article is prefaced by an exploration of the core theoretical concepts: Social capital, bonding bridging and linking and power, followed by a brief analysis of each of the three cases. © 2007 eContent Management Pty Ltd

On the geometric-arithmetic mean inequality for matrices

In this paper refinements and converses of matrix forms of the geometric-arithmetic mean inequality are given

The Information Technology Workforce: A Comparision Of Critical Skills Of Clients And Service Providers

In this article the authors explore similarities and differences in skill needs of IT service providers and the firms that providers service (clients). The results show that providers and clients are more similar than different with regard to desired skills. Client firms emphasize technical skills for new hires more than providers do despite saying that these are the skills they would outsource to providers. The results have implications for organizations’ recruiting and retention, for individuals’ career development, and for educational programs

Involvement of young people in a qualitative study that seeks to explore experiences of renal replacement therapy choice selection

Introduction: Patient and Public involvement (PPI) has become one of the drivers in health care and seen as an integral part of the research process. PPI promotes research questions that reflect the priorities and concerns of the relevant population and develops outcomes that are important to patients (INVOLVE, 2012; Evans et al, 2014; Hickey et al, 2018). Young adults with end-stage kidney disease are supported by clinicians and their families to make decisions about their preferred renal replacement therapy (NICE, 2018). However, they can become overwhelmed with the burden of long-term chronic illness and often struggle to accept diagnosis and prognosis and cope with the complex management of their condition (Coulter and Collins, 2011; Ritchie et al., 2012). They can consequently become disengaged with the service and less involved in their care (Ritchie et al, 2012; Robinski et al, 2014). The current study explores young people’s experiences of renal replacement therapy choice selection. The study team has involved young people in the study’s development. Aims and objectives: The aim of the involvement group in this study is to involve the young people in all stages of the research process: ensuring that the research question has the correct focus, that the participant information sheet is clear and that the recruitment strategy is appropriate. In due course, the young people’s group will be involved in qualitative data analysis and in dissemination of findings. Method: The involvement group comprised three people with experiences of dialysis and kidney transplant treatment as children and young adults. They were recruited via existing networks in the research team. A role description on what was to be expected of the group members was discussed, alongside what was expected from the research team (training and travel expenses for example). Communication is via face-to face meetings and also by email. This first face-to-face meeting discussed and shaped the research question, and the possible recruitment process. Further email discussions have explored the participant information sheet, consent forms plus the development of the video and poster advert to aid recruitment. Results: The impact of PPI on the research process is already providing valuable insights into how the research design should be conducted. The first face-to-face meeting with the group highlighted the difficulties that young people face when making choice of renal replacement therapy, especially psychosocial impact and mental well-being, so the impact the choice makes on well-being was added as a secondary research question. The acceptability of the recruitment method (via social media) was discussed and a video advert was developed for the recruitment process. Members also contributed to the review of some of the research documents; participant information sheet, consent forms, posters, research proposal and piloted a validation questionnaire for suitability. Impact: Involvement of patients helped situate the study to meet the current needs of young adults diagnosed with end stage renal disease who are faced with choosing dialysis or kidney transplantation

Neural network interpolation of the magnetic field for the LISA Pathfinder Diagnostics Subsystem

LISA Pathfinder is a science and technology demonstrator of the European Space Agency within the framework of its LISA mission, which aims to be the first space-borne gravitational wave observatory. The payload of LISA Pathfinder is the so-called LISA Technology Package, which is designed to measure relative accelerations between two test masses in nominal free fall. Its disturbances are monitored and dealt by the diagnostics subsystem. This subsystem consists of several modules, and one of these is the magnetic diagnostics system, which includes a set of four tri-axial fluxgate magnetometers, intended to measure with high precision the magnetic field at the positions of the test masses. However, since the magnetometers are located far from the positions of the test masses, the magnetic field at their positions must be interpolated. It has been recently shown that because there are not enough magnetic channels, classical interpolation methods fail to derive reliable measurements at the positions of the test masses, while neural network interpolation can provide the required measurements at the desired accuracy. In this paper we expand these studies and we assess the reliability and robustness of the neural network interpolation scheme for variations of the locations and possible offsets of the magnetometers, as well as for changes in environmental conditions. We find that neural networks are robust enough to derive accurate measurements of the magnetic field at the positions of the test masses in most circumstances