160 research outputs found
Dynamics of optomechanical spatial solitons in dual-nanoweb structures
We theoretically investigate the stability and dynamics of self-channelled
beams that form via nonlocal optomechanical interactions in dual-nanoweb
microstructured fibers. These "optomechanicons" represent a novel class of
spatial soliton
Involving private healthcare practitioners in an urban NCD sentinel surveillance system: lessons learned from Pune, India
Background: Despite the rising impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on public health in India, lack of quality data and routine surveillance hampers the planning process for NCD prevention and control. Current surveillance programs focus largely on communicable diseases and do not adequately include the private healthcare sector as a major source of care in cities.
Objective: The objective of the study was to conceptualize, implement, and evaluate a prototype for an urban NCD sentinel surveillance system among private healthcare practitioners providing primary care in Pune, India.
Design: We mapped all private healthcare providers in three selected areas of the city, conducted a knowledge, attitude, and practice survey with regard to surveillance among 258 consenting practitioners, and assessed their willingness to participate in a routine NCD surveillance system. In total, 127 practitioners agreed and were included in a 6-month surveillance study. Data on first time diagnoses of 10 selected NCDs alongside basic demographic and socioeconomic patient information were collected onsite on a monthly basis using a paper-based register. Descriptive and regression analyses were performed.
Results: In total, 1,532 incident cases were recorded that mainly included hypertension (n622, 41%) and diabetes (n460, 30%). Dropout rate was 10% (n13). The monthly reporting consistency was quite constant, with the majority (n63, 50%) submitting 110 cases in 6 months. Average number of submitted cases was highest among allopathic practitioners (17.4). A majority of the participants (n104, 91%) agreed that the surveillance design could be scaled up to cover the entire city.
Conclusions: The study indicates that private primary healthcare providers (allopathic and alternate medicine practitioners) play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of NCDs and can be involved in NCD surveillance, if certain barriers are addressed. Main barriers observed were lack of regulation of the private sector, cross-practices among different systems of medicine, limited clinic infrastructure, and knowledge gaps about disease surveillance. We suggest a voluntary augmented sentinel NCD surveillance system including public and private healthcare facilities at all levels of care
Family outbreak of an infection with a recombinant Coxsackie A virus in eastern Switzerland
Purpose: We report on an unusual familial outbreak of a coxsackie virus infection in Switzerland in which five family members were affected. Most of the patients presented with signs of meningitis, and four were hospitalized. Methods: In three individuals, the virus was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid, pharynx, and stool, respectively. The genome was sequenced in specimens of two patients. Results: The nucleotide sequences of both virus strains were identical. Blast search revealed that the first half of the sequence was 88% homologous to Enterovirus 75 (EV-75), 87% with Echovirus 11 (E-11), and 84% homologous to Coxsackie virus A9 (CV-A9). The second half of the sequence was 77% homologous to EV-75, 75% to E-11, and 91% to CV-A9. Conclusion: We propose that the isolated virus strain is a recombinant strain with a 5′ untranslated region and with the start of the VP4 sequence originating from E-11/EV-75 and the rest of the genome originating from CV-A9. Interestingly, this novel virus strain showed an exceptional virulence and rapid spread. Twoweeks after the initial outbreak in this family, a similar outbreak was observed in a second geographic area roughly 100km distant to the primary identification site, and another 2months later this virus strain was found to circulate in the western part of Switzerland some 250km distant to the primary locus. These findings suggest that genetic recombination has resulted in a novel enterovirus with features of high virulence, contagiosity, and spreadin
The Full Monty? Meaning construction and performative possibilities in media depictions of the male strip show
This article questions the progressive potential of media depictions of male strip shows. I examine two overriding discourses within media representations, comparing these to the experiences of male dancers and female customers gleaned through ethnographic fieldwork in two strip venues. Namely, the media’s portrayal of the masculinity of male strippers as ‘fragile’; together with the construction of dancers as ‘fantasy’ subjects who know ‘what women want’. The article interrogates these constructions in relation to a critique of women’s opportunities to exercise an erotic ‘gaze’; the operation of racist and classist discourses of consuming ‘difference’ and Othering customers; and male dancers’ attempts to construct a viable sense of workplace self in the light of negative constructions of sexual labour
Quasi-fission reactions as a probe of nuclear viscosity
Fission fragment mass and angular distributions were measured from the
^{64}Ni+^{197}Au reaction at 418 MeV and 383 MeV incident energy. A detailed
data analysis was performed, using the one-body dissipation theory implemented
in the code HICOL. The effect of the window and the wall friction on the
experimental observables was investigated. Friction stronger than one-body was
also considered. The mass and angular distributions were consistent with
one-body dissipation. An evaporation code DIFHEAT coupled to HICOL was
developed in order to predict reaction time scales required to describe
available data on pre-scission neutron multiplicities. The multiplicity data
were again consistent with one-body dissipation. The cross-sections for touch,
capture and quasi-fission were also obtained.Comment: 25 pages REVTeX, 3 tables, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev
Are Mandates the Answer? Improving Palliative Care and Pain Management in Vermont
Background: The Vermont legislature (bill H.435, Sec. 19) has tasked the Vermont Board of Medical Practice (VBMP) with making a formal recommendation on improving Vermont health professionals’ knowledge and practice of Palliative Care and Pain Management (PC/PM). In collaboration with the VBMP, our group set out to answer the following questions: • How confident/competent are VT physicians in the practice of PC/PM? • What are the barriers to achieving optimal patient care in PC/PM? • Do VT physicians believe mandatory CME would improve the overall quality of care in PC/PM? • What are the best methods of providing Continuing Medical Education (CME)?https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1040/thumbnail.jp
Fission Hindrance in hot 216Th: Evaporation Residue Measurements
The fusion evaporation-residue cross section for 32S+184W has been measured
at beam energies of E_beam = 165, 174, 185, 196, 205, 215, 225, 236, 246,and
257 MeV using the ATLAS Fragment Mass Analyzer. The data are compared with
Statistical Model calculations and it is found that a nuclear dissipation
strength, which increases with excitation energy, is required to reproduce the
excitation function. A comparison with previously published data show that the
dissipation strength depends strongly on the shell structure of the nuclear
system.Comment: 15 pages 9 figure
Does rapid urbanization aggravate health disparities? Reflections on the epidemiological transition in Pune, India
Background: Rapid urbanization in low- and middle-income countries reinforces risk and epidemiological transition in urban societies, which are characterized by high socioeconomic gradients. Limited availability of disaggregated morbidity data in these settings impedes research on epidemiological profiles of different population subgroups. Objective: The study aimed to analyze the epidemiological transition in the emerging megacity of Pune with respect to changing morbidity and mortality patterns, also taking into consideration health disparities among different socioeconomic groups. Design: A mixed-methods approach was used, comprising secondary analysis of mortality data, a survey among 900 households in six neighborhoods with different socioeconomic profiles, 46 in-depth interviews with laypeople, and expert interviews with 37 health care providers and 22 other health care workers. Results: The mortality data account for an epidemiological transition with an increasing number of deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Pune. The share of deaths due to infectious and parasitic diseases remained nearly constant, though the cause of deaths changed considerably within this group. The survey data and expert interviews indicated a slightly higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among higher socioeconomic groups, but a higher incidence and more frequent complications and comorbidities in lower socioeconomic groups. Although the self-reported morbidity for malaria, gastroenteritis, and tuberculosis did not show a socioeconomic pattern, experts estimated the prevalence in lower socioeconomic groups to be higher, though all groups in Pune would be affected. Conclusions: The rising burden of NCDs among all socioeconomic groups and the concurrent persistence of communicable diseases pose a major challenge for public health. Improvement of urban health requires a stronger focus on health promotion and disease prevention for all socioeconomic groups with a holistic understanding of urban health. In order to derive evidence-based solutions and interventions, routine surveillance data become indispensable
Manifestation of transient effects in fission induced by relativistic heavy-ion collisions
We examine the manifestation of transient effects in fission by analysing
experimental data where fission is induced by peripheral heavy-ion collisions
at relativistic energies. Available total nuclear fission cross sections of
238U at 1 A GeV on gold and uranium targets are compared with a
nuclear-reaction code, where transient effects in fission are modelled using
different approximations to the numerical time-dependent fission-decay width: a
new analytical description based on the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation
and two widely used but less realistic descriptions, a step function and an
exponential-like function. The experimental data are only reproduced when
transient effects are considered. The deduced value of the dissipation strength
depends strongly on the approximation applied for the time-dependent
fission-decay width and is estimated to be of the order of 2x10**21 s**(-1). A
careful analysis sheds severe doubts on the use of the exponential-like
in-growth function largely used in the past. Finally, we discuss which should
be the characteristics of experimental observables to be most sensitive to
transient effects in fissionComment: 18 pages, 2 figures, background information on
http://www-w2k.gsi.de/kschmidt
Oral human papillomavirus is common in individuals with Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anemia is a rare genetic disorder resulting in a loss of function of the Fanconi anemia-related DNA repair pathway. Individuals with Fanconi anemia are predisposed to some cancers, including oropharyngeal and gynecologic cancers, with known associations with human papillomavirus (HPV) in the general population. As individuals with Fanconi anemia respond poorly to chemotherapy and radiation, prevention of cancer is critical.
METHODS:
To determine whether individuals with Fanconi anemia are particularly susceptible to oral HPV infection, we analyzed survey-based risk factor data and tested DNA isolated from oral rinses from 126 individuals with Fanconi anemia and 162 unaffected first-degree family members for 37 HPV types.
RESULTS:
Fourteen individuals (11.1%) with Fanconi anemia tested positive, significantly more (P = 0.003) than family members (2.5%). While HPV prevalence was even higher for sexually active individuals with Fanconi anemia (17.7% vs. 2.4% in family; P = 0.003), HPV positivity also tended to be higher in the sexually inactive (8.7% in Fanconi anemia vs. 2.9% in siblings). Indeed, having Fanconi anemia increased HPV positivity 4.9-fold (95% CI, 1.6-15.4) considering age and sexual experience, but did not differ by other potential risk factors.
CONCLUSION:
Our studies suggest that oral HPV is more common in individuals with Fanconi anemia. It will be essential to continue to explore associations between risk factors and immune dysfunction on HPV incidence and persistence over time.
IMPACT:
HPV vaccination should be emphasized in those with Fanconi anemia as a first step to prevent oropharyngeal cancers, although additional studies are needed to determine whether the level of protection it offers in this population is adequate
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