Ramps first – interpreting thrust nucleation in multilayers

Acknowledgements The work contained in this paper was conducted during a PhD study undertaken as part of the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Geoscience and the Low Carbon Energy Transition (NERC Grant Code RG15727-10). It is sponsored by Aberdeen University, via their GeoNetZero 502 CDT Studentship, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Many thanks to Magda Chmielewska for assistance with the virtual outcrop model processing and to Elizabeth Unsworth and Jack Connors for assistance with drone piloting in the field. The virtual outcrop is available at: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/st-brides-haven506 pembrokeshire-d9808f4cd1ca46e8aef549f2300913b4. We thank Bob Holdsworth and an anonymous reviewer for their critical reviews of an earlier draft of this paper, though the views and any remaining errors remain the responsibility of the authors.Peer reviewe

International perceptions of stalking and responsibility: The influence of prior relationship and severity of behavior

This study investigates the influence of prior relationship and severity of behavior on perceptions of stalking and responsibility with a combined sample of 1,080 members of the community from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Participants were presented with 1 of 12 versions of a hypothetical stalking scenario and responded to scale items regarding the behavior of a male perpetrator toward a female target. Prior relationship and severity of behavior influenced perceptions of stalking and responsibility, and the pattern of findings was consistent across the three countries. The perpetrator’s behavior was perceived to constitute stalking, and necessitate police intervention and a criminal conviction to the greatest extent when the perpetrator and target were portrayed as strangers. In addition, the target was perceived to be the least responsible and the perpetrator was perceived to be the most responsible when they were portrayed as strangers

Physicians' Perceptions of Factors Influencing Adherence to Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Children with Sickle Cell Disease

Background: Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) aged Staphylococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae due to the inability of their spleen to protect against infection

Dynamical models for sand ripples beneath surface waves

We introduce order parameter models for describing the dynamics of sand ripple patterns under oscillatory flow. A crucial ingredient of these models is the mass transport between adjacent ripples, which we obtain from detailed numerical simulations for a range of ripple sizes. Using this mass transport function, our models predict the existence of a stable band of wavenumbers limited by secondary instabilities. Small ripples coarsen in our models and this process leads to a sharply selected final wavenumber, in agreement with experimental observations.Comment: 9 pages. Shortened version of previous submissio

Development of a new diabetes medication self-efficacy scale and its association with both reported problems in using diabetes medications and self-reported adherence

Background: Although there are several different general diabetes self-efficacy scales, there is a need to develop a self-efficacy scale that providers can use to assess patient’s self-efficacy regarding medication use. The purpose of this study was to: 1) develop a new diabetes medication self-efficacy scale and 2) examine how diabetes medication self-efficacy is associated with patient-reported problems in using diabetes medications and self-reported adherence. Patients and methods: Adult English-speaking patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a family medicine clinic and a pharmacy in Eastern North Carolina, USA. The patients were eligible if they reported being nonadherent to their diabetes medicines on a visual analog scale. Multivariable regression was used to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and the number of reported diabetes medication problems and adherence. Results: The diabetes medication self-efficacy scale had strong reliability (Cronbach’s alpha =0.86). Among a sample (N=51) of mostly African-American female patients, diabetes medication problems were common (6.1±3.1) and a greater number of diabetes medications were associated with lower medication adherence (odds ratio: 0.35; 95% confidence interval: 0.13, 0.89). Higher medication self-efficacy was significantly related to medication adherence (odds ratio: 1.17; 95% confidence interval: 1.05, 1.30) and inversely related to the number of self-reported medication problems (β=-0.13; P=0.006). Conclusion: Higher diabetes medication self-efficacy was associated with fewer patient- reported medication problems and better medication adherence. Assessing medication-specific self-efficacy may help to identify medication-related problems that providers can help the patients address, potentially improving adherence and patient outcomes. Keywords: diabetes, adherence, self-efficacy, literac

Communication Predicts Medication Self-Efficacy in Glaucoma Patients

Medication self-efficacy, or patients’ confidence that they can perform medication-related behaviors, is associated with better glaucoma medication adherence. Little is known about how to enhance glaucoma patients’ medication self-efficacy. Our purpose is to examine whether patient-provider communication increases glaucoma patients’ medication self-efficacy

Star Formation from Galaxies to Globules

The empirical laws of star formation suggest that galactic-scale gravity is involved, but they do not identify the actual triggering mechanisms for clusters in the final stages. Many other triggering processes satisfy the empirical laws too, including turbulence compression and expanding shell collapse. The self-similar nature of the gas and associated young stars suggests that turbulence is more directly involved, but the small scale morphology of gas around most embedded clusters does not look like a random turbulent flow. Most clusters look triggered by other nearby stars. Such a prominent local influence makes it difficult to understand the universality of the Kennicutt and Schmidt laws on galactic scales. A unified view of multi-scale star formation avoids most of these problems. Ambient self-gravity produces spiral arms and drives much of the turbulence that leads to self-similar structures, while localized energy input from existing clusters and field supernovae triggers new clusters in pre-existing clouds. The hierarchical structure in the gas made by turbulence ensures that the triggering time scales with size, giving the Schmidt law over a wide range of scales and the size-duration correlation for young star fields. The efficiency of star formation is determined by the fraction of the gas above a critical density of around 10^5 m(H2)/cc. Star formation is saturated to its largest possible value given the fractal nature of the interstellar medium.Comment: accepted for ApJ, 42 pages, Dannie Heineman prize lecture, January 200

Development and evaluation of the Measure of Drug Self-Management

BackgroundCurrent adherence scales often fail to assess the full spectrum of behaviors associated with safe and appropriate drug use and may be unsuitable for patients with limited health literacy. We sought to develop and evaluate a comprehensive yet brief Measure of Drug Self-Management (MeDS) for use in research and clinical settings among diverse patient groups.MethodsExpert opinion, literature reviews, and interviews with patients and providers were utilized to create and revise potential items. Item performance testing was then conducted among 193 adult English-speaking patients with hypertension and diabetes. Factor analysis was used to inform item selection. Reliability was assessed via calculations of internal consistency. To assess construct and predictive validity, MeDS scores were compared with scores from the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale and relevant clinical measures (HbA1c, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol).ResultsThe MeDS demonstrated adequate internal consistency with a Cronbach’s α of 0.72. The MeDS was significantly correlated with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (r= −0.62; P<0.001). The MeDS was also associated with clinical measures, with statistically significant correlations found between MeDS scores and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r= −0.27, P≤0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (r= −0.18, P=0.01).ConclusionThe MeDS seems to be a valid and reliable tool that can be used to assess medication self-management skills among diverse patients, including those with limited literacy skills. Future studies are needed to test the tool in actual use and explore clinical applications