4,199 research outputs found
Water Availability and Deformation Processes in Smectite-Rich Gouges During Seismic Slip
Smectite clays occur in subduction zone fault cores at shallow depth (approximately 1 km; e.g., Japan Trench) and landslide d\ue9collements (e.g., Vajont, Italy, 1963). The availability of pore fluids affects the likelihood that seismic slip propagates from deeper to shallow fault depths or that a landslide accelerates to its final collapse. To investigate the deformation processes active during seismic faulting we performed friction experiments with a rotary machine on 2-mm-thick smectite-rich gouge layers (70/30 wt % Ca-montmorillonite/opal) sheared at 5-MPa normal stress, at slip rates of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, and 1.3 m/s, and total displacement of 3 m. Experiments were performed on predried gouges under vacuum, under room humidity and under partly saturated conditions. The fault shear strength measured in the experiments was included in a one-dimensional numerical model incorporating frictional heating, thermal, and thermochemical pressurization. Quantitative X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy investigations were performed on pristine and deformed smectite-rich gouges. Under dry conditions, cataclasis and amorphization dominated at slip rates of 0.001\u20130.1 m/s, whereas grain size sensitive flow and, under vacuum, frictional melting occurred at fast slip rates (1.3 m/s). Under partly saturated conditions, frictional slip in a smectite foliation occurred in combination with pressurization of water by shear-enhanced compaction and, for V = 0.01\u20131.3 m/s, with thermal pressurization. Pseudotachylytes, the only reliable microstructural markers for seismic slip, formed only with large frictional power (>2 MW/m2), which could be achieved at shallow depth with high slip rates, or, at depth, with high shear stress in dehydrated smectites
Measuring commissioners’ willingness-to-pay for community based childhood obesity prevention programmes using a discrete choice experiment
Background:
In the UK, rates of childhood obesity remain high. Community based programmes for child obesity prevention are available to be commissioned by local authorities. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding how programmes are commissioned and which attributes of programmes are valued most by commissioners. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that decision-makers prioritise when commissioning programmes that target childhood obesity prevention.
Methods:
An online discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to survey commissioners and decision makers in the UK to assess their willingness-to-pay for childhood obesity programmes.
Results:
A total of 64 commissioners and other decision makers completed the DCE. The impact of programmes on behavioural outcomes was prioritised, with participants willing to pay an extra £16,600/year if average daily fruit and vegetable intake increased for each child by one additional portion. Participants also prioritised programmes that had greater number of parents fully completing them, and were willing to pay an extra £4810/year for every additional parent completing a programme. The number of parents enrolling in a programme (holding the number completing fixed) and hours of staff time required did not significantly influence choices.
Conclusions:
Emphasis on high programme completion rates and success increasing children’s fruit and vegetable intake has potential to increase commissioning of community based obesity prevention programmes
Cultural basis of social ‘deficits’ in autism spectrum disorders
There is very little research that specifically looks at how autism spectrum disorders are perceived in various communities. This qualitative research was conducted with parents who had children on the autistic spectrum belonging to four different ethnic communities (White British, Somali, West African and South Asian- 63 in total) and living in the UK. The study found that the importance that the parents give to various social skills varied on the basis of their cultural background and the gender of the parent. This is an important aspect to consider while providing support and services to individuals on the autism spectrum and their family members if the services have to be appropriate for their needs. This consideration would also enable the individuals on the autism spectrum to develop appropriate social skills required within their cultural groups. This is a preliminary study and further research on the topic is required
Pathways to economic well-being among teenage mothers in Great Britain
The present study examines pathways to independence from social welfare among 738 teenage mothers, participants of the 1970 British Cohort Study, who were followed up at age 30 years. Using a longitudinal design, a pathway model is tested, examining linkages between family social background, cognitive ability, school motivation, and individual investments in education, as well as work- and family-related roles. The most important factors associated with financial independence by age 30 are continued attachment to the labor market as well as a stable relationship with a partner (not necessarily the father of the child). Pathways to financial independence, in turn, are predicted through own cognitive resources, school motivation, and family cohesion. Implications of findings for policy making are discussed.© 2010 Hogrefe Publishing
Microscopic Polarization in Bilayer Graphene
Bilayer graphene has drawn significant attention due to the opening of a band
gap in its low energy electronic spectrum, which offers a promising route to
electronic applications. The gap can be either tunable through an external
electric field or spontaneously formed through an interaction-induced symmetry
breaking. Our scanning tunneling measurements reveal the microscopic nature of
the bilayer gap to be very different from what is observed in previous
macroscopic measurements or expected from current theoretical models. The
potential difference between the layers, which is proportional to charge
imbalance and determines the gap value, shows strong dependence on the disorder
potential, varying spatially in both magnitude and sign on a microscopic level.
Furthermore, the gap does not vanish at small charge densities. Additional
interaction-induced effects are observed in a magnetic field with the opening
of a subgap when the zero orbital Landau level is placed at the Fermi energy
Substrate-induced band gap opening in epitaxial graphene
Graphene has shown great application potentials as the host material for next
generation electronic devices. However, despite its intriguing properties, one
of the biggest hurdles for graphene to be useful as an electronic material is
its lacking of an energy gap in the electronic spectra. This, for example,
prevents the use of graphene in making transistors. Although several proposals
have been made to open a gap in graphene's electronic spectra, they all require
complex engineering of the graphene layer. Here we show that when graphene is
epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate, a gap of ~ 0.26 is produced. This gap
decreases as the sample thickness increases and eventually approaches zero when
the number of layers exceeds four. We propose that the origin of this gap is
the breaking of sublattice symmetry owing to the graphene-substrate
interaction. We believe our results highlight a promising direction for band
gap engineering of graphene.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; updated reference
Early visual foraging in relationship to familial risk for autism and hyperactivity/inattention
Objective. Information foraging is atypical in both autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and ADHD; however, while ASD is associated with restricted exploration and preference for sameness, ADHD is characterized by hyperactivity and increased novelty seeking. Here, we ask whether similar biases are present in visual foraging in younger siblings of children with a diagnosis of ASD with or without additional high levels of hyperactivity and inattention. Method. Fifty-four low-risk controls (LR) and 50 high-risk siblings (HR) took part in an eye-tracking study at 8 and 14 months and at 3 years of age. Results. At 8 months, siblings of children with ASD and low levels of hyperactivity/inattention (HR/ASD-HI) were more likely to return to previously visited areas in the visual scene than were LR and siblings of children with ASD and high levels of hyperactivity/inattention (HR/ASD+HI). Conclusion. We show that visual foraging is atypical in infants at-risk for ASD. We also reveal a paradoxical effect, in that additional family risk for ADHD core symptoms mitigates the effect of ASD risk on visual information foraging
WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: body mass index and level of overweight among 6-9-year-old children from school year 2007/2008 to school year 2009/2010
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has established the Childhood Obesity
Surveillance Initiative (COSI) to monitor changes in overweight in primary-school children. The aims of this paper are to
present the anthropometric results of COSI Round 2 (2009/2010) and to explore changes in body mass index (BMI) and
overweight among children within and across nine countries from school years 2007/2008 to 2009/2010.
Methods: Using cross-sectional nationally representative samples of 6−9-year-olds, BMI, anthropometric Z-scores and
overweight prevalence were derived from measured weight and height. Significant changes between rounds were
assessed using variance and t-tests analyses.
Results: At Round 2, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity; WHO definitions) ranged from 18% to 57%
among boys and from 18% to 50% among girls; 6 − 31% of boys and 5 − 21% of girls were obese. Southern
European countries had the highest overweight prevalence. Between rounds, the absolute change in mean BMI
(range: from −0.4 to +0.3) and BMI-for-age Z-scores (range: from −0.21 to +0.14) varied statistically significantly
across countries. The highest significant decrease in BMI-for-age Z-scores was found in countries with higher absolute
BMI values and the highest significant increase in countries with lower BMI values. The highest significant decrease in
overweight prevalence was observed in Italy, Portugal and Slovenia and the highest significant increase in Latvia and
Norway.
Conclusions: Changes in BMI and prevalence of overweight over a two-year period varied significantly among
European countries. It may be that countries with higher prevalence of overweight in COSI Round 1 have
implemented interventions to try to remedy this situation
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