26,435 research outputs found
Expression and regulation of Cek-8, a cell to cell signalling receptor in developing chick limb buds
Arctic marine climate of the early nineteenth century
The climate of the early nineteenth century is likely to have been significantly cooler than that of today, as it was a period of low solar activity (the Dalton minimum) and followed a series of large volcanic eruptions. Proxy reconstructions of the temperature of the period do not agree well on the size of the temperature change, so other observational records from the period are particularly valuable. Weather observations have been extracted from the reports of the noted whaling captain William Scoresby Jr., and from the records of a series of Royal Navy expeditions to the Arctic, preserved in the UK National Archives. They demonstrate that marine climate in 1810 - 1825 was marked by consistently cold summers, with abundant sea-ice. But although the period was significantly colder than the modern average, there was considerable variability: in the Greenland Sea the summers following the Tambora eruption (1816 and 1817) were noticeably warmer, and had less sea-ice coverage, than the years immediately preceding them; and the sea-ice coverage in Lancaster Sound in 1819 and 1820 was low even by modern standards. © 2010 Author(s)
The Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background At Degree Angular Scales
We detect anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at degree
angular scales and confirm a previous detection reported by Wollack et al.
(1993). The root-mean-squared amplitude of the fluctuations is K. This may be expressed as the square root of the angular power spectrum
in a band of multipoles between . We find K. The measured spectral
index of the fluctuations is consistent with zero, the value expected for the
CMB. The spectral index corresponding to Galactic free-free emission, the most
likely foreground contaminant, is rejected at approximately .
The analysis is based on three independent data sets. The first, taken in
1993, spans the 26 - 36 GHz frequency range with three frequency bands; the
second was taken with the same radiometer as the first but during an
independent observing campaign in 1994; and the third, also take in 1994, spans
the 36-46 GHz range in three bands. For each telescope position and radiometer
channel, the drifts in the instrument offset are K/day over a period
of one month. The dependence of the inferred anisotropy on the calibration and
data editing is addressed.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures. Saskatoon 1993/1994 combined analysi
âI wish Iâd told themâ: a qualitative study examining the unmet psychosexual needs of prostate cancer patients during follow-up after treatment
<b>Objective</b> To gain insight into patients' experiences of follow-up care after treatment for prostate cancer and identify unmet psychosexual needs.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b> Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 35 patients aged 59-82 from three UK regions. Partners were included in 18 interviews. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. <p></p>
<b>Results</b> (1) Psychosexual problems gained importance over time, (2) men felt they were rarely invited to discuss psychosexual side effects within follow-up appointments and lack of rapport with health care professionals made it difficult to raise problems themselves, (3) problems were sometimes concealed or accepted and professionals' attempts to explore potential difficulties were resisted by some, and (4) older patients were too embarrassed to raise psychosexual concerns as they felt they would be considered 'too old' to be worried about the loss of sexual function.<p></p>
<b>Conclusion</b> Men with prostate cancer, even the very elderly, have psychosexual issues for variable times after diagnosis. These are not currently always addressed at the appropriate time for the patient.Practice implications Assessments of psychosexual problems should take place throughout the follow-up period, and not only at the time of initial treatment. Further research examining greater willingness or reluctance to engage with psychosexual interventions may be particularly helpful in designing future intervention
Evaluating selective culling with vaccination to control wildlife disease: badgers and bovine tuberculosis (bTB)
Smith, G.C., Wilkinson, D
The Quantum-Classical Crossover in the Adiabatic Response of Chaotic Systems
The autocorrelation function of the force acting on a slow classical system,
resulting from interaction with a fast quantum system is calculated following
Berry-Robbins and Jarzynski within the leading order correction to the
adiabatic approximation. The time integral of the autocorrelation function is
proportional to the rate of dissipation. The fast quantum system is assumed to
be chaotic in the classical limit for each configuration of the slow system. An
analytic formula is obtained for the finite time integral of the correlation
function, in the framework of random matrix theory (RMT), for a specific
dependence on the adiabatically varying parameter. Extension to a wider class
of RMT models is discussed. For the Gaussian unitary and symplectic ensembles
for long times the time integral of the correlation function vanishes or falls
off as a Gaussian with a characteristic time that is proportional to the
Heisenberg time, depending on the details of the model. The fall off is
inversely proportional to time for the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble. The
correlation function is found to be dominated by the nearest neighbor level
spacings. It was calculated for a variety of nearest neighbor level spacing
distributions, including ones that do not originate from RMT ensembles. The
various approximate formulas obtained are tested numerically in RMT. The
results shed light on the quantum to classical crossover for chaotic systems.
The implications on the possibility to experimentally observe deterministic
friction are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, including 6 figure
Two tails in NGC 3656, and the major merger origin of shell and minor axis dust lane ellipticals
I report on the discovery of two faint (~ 26.8 Rmag/arcsec^2) tidal tails
around the shell elliptical NGC 3656 (Arp 155). This galaxy had previously been
interpreted as a case of accretion, or minor merger. The two tidal tails are
inconsistent with a minor merger, and point instead to a disk-disk major merger
origin. NGC 3656 extends Toomre's merger sequence toward normal elliptical
galaxies, and hints at a major merger origin for shells and minor-axis dust
lanes. A dwarf galaxy lies at the tip of one of the tidal tails. A prominent
shell, which shows sharp azymuthal color discontinuities, belongs to a rotating
dynamical component of young stars which includes the inner dust lane.Comment: 9 pages, 2 plates, 1 figure, uses aaspp.sty, accepted for publication
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Files also available by anonymous ftp
at ftp.iac.es, directory ./pub/balcell
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Factors influencing utilisation of âfree-standingâ and âalongsideâ midwifery units for low-risk births in England: a mixed-methods study
Background
Midwifery-led units (MUs) are recommended for âlow-riskâ births by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence but according to the National Audit Office were not available in one-quarter of trusts in England in 2013 and, when available, were used by only a minority of the low-risk women for whom they should be suitable. This study explores why.
Objectives
To map the provision of MUs in England and explore barriers to and facilitators of their development and use; and to ascertain stakeholder views of interventions to address these barriers and facilitators.
Design
Mixed methods â first, MU access and utilisation across England was mapped; second, local media coverage of the closure of free-standing midwifery units (FMUs) were analysed; third, case studies were undertaken in six sites to explore the barriers and facilitators that have an impact on the development of MUs; and, fourth, by convening a stakeholder workshop, interventions to address the barriers and facilitators were discussed.
Setting
English NHS maternity services.
Participants
All trusts with maternity services.
Interventions
Establishing MUs.
Main outcome measures
Numbers and types of MUs and utilisation of MUs.
Results
Births in MUs across England have nearly tripled since 2011, to 15% of all births. However, this increase has occurred almost exclusively in alongside units, numbers of which have doubled. Births in FMUs have stayed the same and these units are more susceptible to closure. One-quarter of trusts in England have no MUs; in those that do, nearly all MUs are underutilised. The study findings indicate that most trust managers, senior midwifery managers and obstetricians do not regard their MU provision as being as important as their obstetric-led unit provision and therefore it does not get embedded as an equal and parallel component in the trustâs overall maternity package of care. The analysis illuminates how provision and utilisation are influenced by a complex range of factors, including the medicalisation of childbirth, financial constraints and institutional norms protecting the status quo.
Limitations
When undertaking the case studies, we were unable to achieve representativeness across social class in the womenâs focus groups and struggled to recruit finance directors for individual interviews. This may affect the transferability of our findings.
Conclusions
Although there has been an increase in the numbers and utilisation of MUs since 2011, significant obstacles remain to MUs reaching their full potential, especially FMUs. This includes the capacity and willingness of providers to address womenâs information needs. If these remain unaddressed at commissioner and provider level, childbearing womenâs access to MUs will continue to be restricted.
Future work
Work is needed on optimum approaches to improve decision-makersâ understanding and use of clinical and economic evidence in service design. Increasing womenâs access to information about MUs requires further studies of professionalsâ understanding and communication of evidence. The role of FMUs in the context of rural populations needs further evaluation to take into account user and community impact.
Funding
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 8, No. 12. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information
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