Chlamydia diagnosis rate in England in 2012: an ecological study of local authorities

Objectives Local authorities (LAs) in England commission chlamydia screening as part of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme. It is recommended that LAs achieve a chlamydia diagnosis rate of ≥2300 cases per 100 000 population aged 15–24. We describe national patterns in attainment of the chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendation and possible implications of using it to measure LA-level performance. Methods We used publicly available data sets from England (2012) to explore the association between LAs attaining the recommended chlamydia diagnosis rate and population size, socioeconomic deprivation, test setting and sex. Results We used data from 1 197 121 recorded chlamydia tests in females and 564 117 in males. The chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendation was achieved by 22% (72/324) of LAs overall (43% female population; 8% male population). LAs in the highest deprivation quintile were more likely to reach the recommendation than those in the least-deprived quintile for both sexes (women: unadjusted prevalence ratio (UPR) 7.43, 95% CI 3.65 to 15.11; men: UPR 7.00, 95% CI 1.66 to 29.58). The proportion of tests performed in genitourinary medicine clinics was negatively associated with attainment of the recommended diagnosis rate (UPR 0.95, 0.93 to 0.97). Conclusions Chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendations that reflect local area deprivation (as a proxy for disease burden) may be more appropriate than a single national target if the aim is to reduce health inequalities nationally. We suggest LAs monitor their chlamydia diagnosis rate, test coverage and test positivity across a range of measures (including setting and sex) and pre/post changes to commissioned services. Critical evaluation of performance against the recommendation should be reflected in local commissioning decisions

Implications of moderate altitude training for sea level endurance in elite distance runners

Elite distance runners participated in one of two studies designed to investigate the e ects of mod- erate altitude training (inspiratory partial pressure of oxygen »115±125 mmHg) on submaximal, maximal and supramaximal exercise performance following return to sea-level. Study 1 (New Mexico, USA) involved 14 subjects who were assigned to a 4-week altitude training camp (1500±2000 m) whilst 9 performance-matched subjects continued with an identical training programme at sea-level (CON). Ten EXP subjects who trained at 1640 m and 19 CON subjects also participated in study 2 (Krugersdorp, South Africa). Selected metabolic and cardiorespiratory parameters were determined with the subjects at rest and during exercise 21 days prior to (PRE) and 10 and 20 days following their return to sea- level (POST). Whole blood lactate decreased by 23% (P < 0.05 vs PRE) during submaximal exercise in the EXP group only after 20 days at sea-level (study 1). However, the lactate threshold and other measures of running economy remained unchanged. Similarly, su- pramaximal performance during a standardised track session did not change. Study 2 demonstrated that hypoxia per se did not alter performance. In contrast, in the EXP group supramaximal running velocity de- creased by 2% (P < 0.05) after 20 days at sea-level. Both studies were characterised by a 50% increase in the frequency of upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections during the altitude sojourns, and two male subjects were diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis following their return to sea-level (study 1). Group mean plasma glutamine concentrations at rest decreased by 19% or 143 (74) lM (P < 0.001) after 3 weeks at alti- tude, which may have been implicated in the increased incidence of infectious illness

SINFONI's take on Star Formation, Molecular Gas, and Black Hole Masses in AGN

We present some preliminary (half-way) results on our adaptive optics spectroscopic survey of AGN at spatial scales down to 0.085arcsec. Most of the data were obtained with SINFONI which provides integral field capability at a spectral resolution of R~4000. The themes on which we focus in this contribution are: star formation around the AGN, the properties of the molecular gas and its relation to the torus, and the mass of the black hole.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Science Perspectives for 3D Spectroscopy. ESO Astrophysics Symposia. Ed by M. Kissler-Patig, M. Roth and J. Wals

Early-type Galaxies in the Cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23

To examine the evolution of the early-type galaxy population in the rich cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23 we have gained spectroscopic data of 51 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with MOSCA at the 3.5 m telescope on Calar Alto Observatory. This investigation spans both a broad range in luminosity (-19.3>M_B>-22.3) and uses a wide field of view of 10'x10', therefore the environmental dependence of different formation scenarios can be analysed in detail as a function of radius from the cluster centre. Here we present results on the surface brightness modelling of galaxies where morphological and structural information is available in the F814W filter aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and investigate for this subsample the evolution of the Fundamental Plane.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series, Vol. 3: Clusters of Galaxies: Probes of Cosmological Structure and Galaxy Evolution", ed. J. S. Mulchaey, A. Dressler, and A. Oemler (Pasadena: Carnegie Observatories, http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium3/proceedings.html

Seeing Young Fathers in a Different Way: Editorial

I think it's absolutely outrageous that so many young men in our society feel they can go out, get women pregnant, allow them to have children, make them bring them up by themselves, often on benefits, and then just disappear. It is utterly shocking and I hope ... the ministers will get hold of some of these feckless fathers, drag them off, make them work, put them in chains if necessary.... (David Davies MP, 12 November 2013, House of Commons; Cornack, 2013

Supporting young fathers: the promise, potential and perils of statutory service provision

This article provides a case study of the challenges faced by one local authority in supporting young fathers, in a context of changing models of service provision, resource constraints and professional training needs. Developments in service provision are tracked over a decade, starting with a mentoring service set up under New Labour's 10-year Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, and considering how this has been refashioned under new models of service provision. The article was developed in close consultation with local authority service providers and draws on both professional accounts and the perspectives of young fathers as clients of the service. Overall, the article contributes to debates around the relative strengths of mainstream and specialist support for young fathers, and suggests the value of specialist support within mainstream provision

Clonal analysis of meningococci during a 26 year period prior to the introduction of meningococcal serogroup C vaccines

Meningococcal disease remains a public health burden in the UK and elsewhere. Invasive Neisseria meningitidis, isolated in Scotland between 1972 and 1998, were characterised retrospectively to examine the serogroup and clonal structure of the circulating population. 2607 isolates causing invasive disease were available for serogroup and MLST analysis whilst 2517 were available for multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis only. Serogroup distribution changed from year to year but serogroups B and C were dominant throughout. Serogroup B was dominant throughout the 1970s and early 1980s until serogroup C became dominant during the mid-1980s. The increase in serogroup C was not associated with one particular sequence type (ST) but was associated with a number of STs, including ST-8, ST-11, ST-206 and ST-334. This is in contrast to the increase in serogroup C disease seen in the 1990s that was due to expansion of the ST-11 clonal complex. While there was considerable diversity among the isolates (309 different STs among the 2607 isolates), a large proportion of isolates (59.9%) were associated with only 10 STs. These data highlight meningococcal diversity over time and the need for ongoing surveillance during the introduction of new meningococcal vaccines

Robustness of subwavelength devices: a case study of cochlea-inspired rainbow sensors

The aim of this work is to derive precise formulas which describe how the properties of subwavelength devices are changed by the introduction of errors and imperfections. As a demonstrative example, we study a class of cochlea-inspired rainbow sensors. These are devices based on a graded array of subwavelength resonators which have been designed to mimic the frequency separation performed by the cochlea. We show that the device's properties (including its role as a signal filtering device) are stable with respect to small imperfections in the positions and sizes of the resonators. Additionally, if the number of resonators is sufficiently large, then the device's properties are stable under the removal of a resonator

Three-dimensional vortex dynamics in Bose-Einstein condensates

We simulate in the mean-field limit the effects of rotationally stirring a three-dimensional trapped Bose-Einstein condensate with a Gaussian laser beam. A single vortex cycling regime is found for a range of trap geometries, and is well described as coherent cycling between the ground and the first excited vortex states. The critical angular speed of stirring for vortex formation is quantitatively predicted by a simple model. We report preliminary results for the collisions of vortex lines, in which sections may be exchanged.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX 3.1; Submitted to Physical Review A (6 March 2000

Heat Kernel Bounds for the Laplacian on Metric Graphs of Polygonal Tilings

We obtain an upper heat kernel bound for the Laplacian on metric graphs arising as one skeletons of certain polygonal tilings of the plane, which reflects the one dimensional as well as the two dimensional nature of these graphs.Comment: 8 page