Spatial clusters of gonorrhoea in England with particular reference to the outcome of partner notification: 2012 and 2013

Background: This study explored spatial-temporal variation in diagnoses of gonorrhoea to identify and quantify endemic areas and clusters in relation to patient characteristics and outcomes of partner notification (PN) across England, UK. Methods: Endemic areas and clusters were identified using a two-stage analysis with Kulldorff’s scan statistics (SaTScan). Results Of 2,571,838 tests, 53,547 diagnoses were gonorrhoea positive (positivity = 2.08%). The proportion of diagnoses in heterosexual males was 1.5 times that in heterosexual females. Among index cases, men who have sex with men (MSM) were 8 times more likely to be diagnosed with gonorrhoea than heterosexual males (p<0.0001). After controlling for age, gender, ethnicity and deprivation rank, 4 endemic areas were identified including 11,047 diagnoses, 86% of which occurred in London. 33 clusters included 17,629 diagnoses (34% of total diagnoses in 2012 and 2013) and spanned 21 locations, some of which were dominated by heterosexually acquired infection, whilst others were MSM focused. Of the 53,547 diagnoses, 14.5% (7,775) were the result of PN. The proportion of patients who attended services as a result of PN varied from 0% to 61% within different age, gender and sexual orientation cohorts. A third of tests resulting from PN were positive for gonorrhoea. 25% of Local Authorities (n = 81, 95% CI: 20.2, 29.5) had a higher than expected proportion for female PN diagnoses as compared to 16% for males (n = 52, 95% CI: 12.0, 19.9). Conclusions: The English gonorrhoea epidemic is characterised by spatial-temporal variation. PN success varied between endemic areas and clusters. Greater emphasis should be placed on the role of PN in the control of gonorrhoea to reduce the risk of onward transmission, re-infection, and complications of infection

Fireside corrosion degradation of ferritic alloys at 600°C in oxy-fired conditions

This paper reports the results of a study carried out to investigate the effects of simulated coal/biomass combustion conditions on the fireside corrosion. The 1000 h deposit recoat exposure (5 × 200 h cycles) was carried out at 600 °C. In these tests ferritic alloys were used 15Mo3, T22, T23 and T91. Kinetics data were generated for the alloys exposed using both traditional weight change methods and metal loss measurements. The highest rate of corrosion based on EDX results occurred under D1 deposit where provoke mainly by the formation of alkali iron tri-sulphate phase

The Role Of Activity-Base Costing In The Development Of Segmented Financial Statements: An Examination

The recent financial crisis has brought into question a number of the qualities and characteristics of current financial reporting practices. One of the areas in question is that of reporting segmental information in relation to &ldquo;paper&rdquo; gains and losses. In this paper, Activity is divided between economic and financial activities. We bring to the fore some of the historical sources of the principles on which segmental reporting is based, and then propose an alternative reporting scheme along the lines of activity-based costing. The advantages and shortcomings of the proposed system are examined and the implications of the use of the system are discussed

Common Sense As Corporate Culture

A discussion of the problems associated with the implementation of FAS 157 and inherent risk for small- to-medium sized firms in the mortgage industry. Emphasis is placed on components of corporate culture and an example is provided using Network Funding, L.P., a Houston-based mortgage banking firm

Threshold Error Penalty for Fault Tolerant Computation with Nearest Neighbour Communication

The error threshold for fault tolerant quantum computation with concatenated encoding of qubits is penalized by internal communication overhead. Many quantum computation proposals rely on nearest-neighbour communication, which requires excess gate operations. For a qubit stripe with a width of L+1 physical qubits implementing L levels of concatenation, we find that the error threshold of 2.1x10^-5 without any communication burden is reduced to 1.2x10^-7 when gate errors are the dominant source of error. This ~175X penalty in error threshold translates to an ~13X penalty in the amplitude and timing of gate operation control pulses.Comment: minor correctio

Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Foreign Outsourcing Of Tax Return Preparation

In recent years, the outsourcing of tax preparation to foreign service providers has grown substantially. The benefits of outsourcing include lower costs and obtaining additional assistance during the busy tax season. However, some have raised both legal and ethical questions regarding this process. Arguments against the practice include problems related to ensuring confidentially of the information transmitted and the inability to adequately supervise personnel in foreign locations. This paper explores the legal concerns and ethical questions regarding outsourcing in light of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Internal Revenue Service requirements, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant&rsquo;s Code of Professional Conduct. In addition, the paper summarizes the most recent pronouncement of the AICPA on the subject