What kinds of policies to reduce health inequalities in the UK do researchers support?

BACKGROUND: Despite a wealth of research and policy initiatives, progress in tackling the UK's health inequalities has been limited. This article explores whether there appears to be consensus among researchers about the kinds of policies likely to reduce health inequalities.METHODS: Ninety-nine proposals for addressing health inequalities were identified from multiple sources. Forty-one researchers participated in a survey assessing the extent to which they believed each proposal would reduce health inequalities, based on three criteria. The 20 proposals generating most support were employed in a second stage, in which 92 researchers indicated which proposals they felt would have the greatest impact on reducing health inequalities.RESULTS: Some consensus exists among researchers about the policy approaches likely to reduce UK health inequalities: a more progressive distribution of income/wealth, greater investment in services for deprived communities, plus regulatory policies to limit the impact of lifestyle-behavioural risks. However, researchers' support for proposals varies depending whether they are asked to express their expert opinion or to comment on the strength of the available evidence.CONCLUSIONS: When consulting researchers about health inequalities, policymakers need to consider whether they are seeking research-informed expertise or assessments of the available evidence; these questions are likely to yield different responses

Quantum vortex tunneling in YBa2Cu3O7−δYBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} thin films

Cuprate films offer a unique opportunity to observe vortex tunneling effects, due to their unusually low superfluid density and short coherence length. Here, we measure the magnetoresistance (\textit{MR}) due to vortex motion of a long meander line of a superconducting film made of underdoped $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$. At low temperatures (\textit{T}), the \textit{MR} shows a significant deviation from Arrhenius activation. The data is consistent with two dimensional Variable Range Hopping (VRH) of single vortices, i.e. $MR\propto exp[-(T_0/T)^{1/3}]$. The VRH temperature scale $T_0$ depends on the vortex tunneling rates between pinning sites. We discuss its magnitude with respect to estimated parameters of the meander thin film.Comment: 5 figure

Topological Pumping over a Photonic Fibonacci Quasicrystal

Quasiperiodic lattices have recently been shown to be a non-trivial topological phase of matter. Charge pumping -- one of the hallmarks of topological states of matter -- was recently realized for photons in a one-dimensional (1D) off-diagonal Harper model implemented in a photonic waveguide array. The topologically nontrivial 1D Fibonacci quasicrystal (QC) is expected to facilitate a similar phenomenon, but its discrete nature and lack of pumping parameter hinder the experimental study of such topological effects. In this work we overcome these obstacles by utilizing a family of topologically equivalent QCs which ranges from the Fibonacci QC to the Harper model. Implemented in photonic waveguide arrays, we observe the topological properties of this family, and perform a topological pumping of photons across a Fibonacci QC.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, comments are welcom

Quantum Key Distribution with Classical Bob

Secure key distribution among two remote parties is impossible when both are classical, unless some unproven (and arguably unrealistic) computation-complexity assumptions are made, such as the difficulty of factorizing large numbers. On the other hand, a secure key distribution is possible when both parties are quantum. What is possible when only one party (Alice) is quantum, yet the other (Bob) has only classical capabilities? We present a protocol with this constraint, and prove its robustness against attacks: we prove that any attempt of an adversary to obtain information (and even a tiny amount of information) necessarily induces some errors that the legitimate users could notice.Comment: 4 and a bit pages, 1 figure, RevTe

Updown categories: Generating functions and universal covers

A poset can be regarded as a category in which there is at most one morphism between objects, and such that at most one of Hom(c,c') and Hom(c',c) is nonempty for distinct objects c,c'. If we keep in place the latter axiom but allow for more than one morphism between objects, we have a sort of generalized poset in which there are multiplicities attached to covering relations, and possibly nontrivial automorphism groups. We call such a category an "updown category". In this paper we give a precise definition of such categories and develop a theory for them. We also give a detailed account of ten examples, including updown categories of integer partitions, integer compositions, planar rooted trees, and rooted trees.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:math/040245

Dynamic structural flexibility of α-synuclein

Abstractα-Synuclein is a conserved, abundantly expressed protein that is partially localized in pre-synaptic terminals in the central nervous system. The precise biological function(s) and structure of α-synuclein are under investigation. Recently, the native conformation and the presence of naturally occurring multimeric assemblies have come under debate. These are important deliberations because α-synuclein assembles into highly organized amyloid-like fibrils and non-amyloid amorphous aggregates that constitute the neuronal inclusions in Parkinson's disease and related disorders. Therefore understanding the nature of the native and pathological conformations is pivotal from the standpoint of therapeutic interventions that could maintain α-synuclein in its physiological state. In this review, we will discuss the existing evidence that define the physiological states of α-synuclein and highlight how the inherent structural flexibility of this protein may be important in health and disease

Prospective Evaluation of the Ultrasound Signs Proposed for the Description of Uterine Niche in Nonpregnant Women

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the new ultrasound-based signs for the diagnosis of post-cesarean section uterine niche in nonpregnant women. METHODS: We investigated prospectively a cohort of 160 consecutive women with one previous term cesarean delivery (CD) between December 2019 and 2020. All women were separated into two subgroups according to different stages of labor at the time of their CD: subgroup A (n = 109; 68.1%) for elective CD and CD performed in latent labor at a cervical dilatation (≤4 cm) and subgroup B (n = 51; 31.9%); for CD performed during the active stage of labor (>4 cm). RESULTS: Overall, the incidence of a uterine niche was significantly (P  3 mm in subgroup A than in subgroup B and a significant negative relationship was found between the RMT and the cervical dilatation at CD (r = -0.22; P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: Sonographic cesarean section scar assessment indicates that the type of CD and the stage of labor at which the hysterotomy is performed have an impact on the location of the scar and the scarification process including the niche formation and RMT