Pregnancy complications as markers for subsequent maternal cardiovascular disease: Validation of a maternal recall questionnaire

Background: We designed and tested the validity of a questionnaire to characterize maternal recall of pregnancy complications associated with increased future cardiovascular disease risk, based on the 2011 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines. Methods: A maternal recall questionnaire of pregnancy history was administered to 971 patients who had participated in a previous cohort study of 1,608 pregnant women. Medical records from the study pregnancy served as the gold standard. Prevalence, sensitivity (sens), specificity (spec), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and/or Spearman's correlation coefficients (r) were calculated for each question. Results: A total of 526 (54%) individuals recontacted responded. Respondents were more likely to be older, white, educated, and nulliparous and were less likely to deliver low-birthweight infants in the study pregnancy than were individuals who did not respond. Mean length of recall was 4.35 years (standard deviation [SD] 0.46) postpartum. Maternal recall was most accurate for gestational diabetes (sens: 92%, spec: 98%, PPV: 79%, NPV: 99%), infant birthweight (r=0.95), and gestation length (r=0.85). Maternal recall was modest for preeclampsia (sens: 79%, spec: 97%, PPV: 68%, NPV: 98%) and pregnancy-associated hypertension, including preeclampsia or gestational hypertension (sens: 60%, spec: 95%, PPV: 64%, NPV: 94%). Conclusions: This validation study demonstrated that the majority of women could accurately recall a history of gestational diabetes, infant birthweight, and gestational age at delivery, 4 years postpartum on average. Recall of preeclampsia and pregnancy-associated hypertension overall was modest. Maternal report of these pregnancy conditions may help clinicians identify women at increased risk for cardiovascular disease

A “Learning Revolution”? Investigating Pedagogic Practices around Interactive Whiteboards in British Primary Classrooms

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch-sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole-class teaching and learning. Strong claims are made for their value by manufacturers and policy makers, but there has been little research on how, if at all, they influence established pedagogic practices, communicative processes and educational goals. This study has been designed to examine this issue, using observations in primary (elementary) school classrooms. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and builds on the authors’ previous research on ICT in educational dialogues and collaborative activities

Quantum Kinetic Theory I: A Quantum Kinetic Master Equation for Condensation of a weakly interacting Bose gas without a trapping potential

A Quantum Kinetic Master Equation (QKME) for bosonic atoms is formulated. It is a quantum stochastic equation for the kinetics of a dilute quantum Bose gas, and describes the behavior and formation of Bose condensation. The key assumption in deriving the QKME is a Markov approximation for the atomic collision terms. In the present paper the basic structure of the theory is developed, and approximations are stated and justified to delineate the region of validity of the theory. Limiting cases of the QKME include the Quantum Boltzmann master equation and the Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation, as well as an equation analogous to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figure

Renormalization Group Analysis of a Noisy Kuramoto-Sivashinsky Equation

We have analyzed the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation with a stochastic noise term through a dynamic renormalization group calculation. For a system in which the lattice spacing is smaller than the typical wavelength of the linear instability occurring in the system, the large-distance and long-time behavior of this equation is the same as for the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation in one and two spatial dimensions. For the $d=2$ case the agreement is only qualitative. On the other hand, when coarse-graining on larger scales the asymptotic flow depends on the initial values of the parameters.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, revte

Quantum dynamics of evaporatively cooled Bose-Einstein Condensates

We report on dynamical simulations of Bose-Einstein condensation via evaporative cooling in an atomic trap. The results show evidence for spontaneous vortex formation and quantum dynamics in small traps.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Proposing a systems vision of knowledge management in emergency care

This paper makes a case for taking a systems view of knowledge management within health-care provision, concentrating on the emergency care process in the UK National Health Service. It draws upon research in two casestudy organizations (a hospital and an ambulance service). The case-study organizations appear to be approaching knowledge (and information) management in a somewhat fragmented way. They are trying to think more holistically, but (perhaps) because of the ways their organizations and their work are structured, they cannot ‘see’ the whole of the care process. The paper explores the complexity of knowledge management in emergency health care and draws the distinction for knowledge management between managing local and operational knowledge, and global and clinical knowledge

Magnetic correlations and quantum criticality in the insulating antiferromagnetic, insulating spin liquid, renormalized Fermi liquid, and metallic antiferromagnetic phases of the Mott system V_2O_3

Magnetic correlations in all four phases of pure and doped vanadium sesquioxide V_2O_3 have been examined by magnetic thermal neutron scattering. While the antiferromagnetic insulator can be accounted for by a Heisenberg localized spin model, the long range order in the antiferromagnetic metal is an incommensurate spin-density-wave, resulting from a Fermi surface nesting instability. Spin dynamics in the strongly correlated metal are dominated by spin fluctuations in the Stoner electron-hole continuum. Furthermore, our results in metallic V_2O_3 represent an unprecedentedly complete characterization of the spin fluctuations near a metallic quantum critical point, and provide quantitative support for the SCR theory for itinerant antiferromagnets in the small moment limit. Dynamic magnetic correlations for energy smaller than k_BT in the paramagnetic insulator carry substantial magnetic spectral weight. However, the correlation length extends only to the nearest neighbor distance. The phase transition to the antiferromagnetic insulator introduces a sudden switching of magnetic correlations to a different spatial periodicity which indicates a sudden change in the underlying spin Hamiltonian. To describe this phase transition and also the unusual short range order in the paramagnetic state, it seems necessary to take into account the orbital degrees of freedom associated with the degenerate d-orbitals at the Fermi level in V_2O_3.Comment: Postscript file, 24 pages, 26 figures, 2 tables, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Geographically touring the eastern bloc: British geography, travel cultures and the Cold War

This paper considers the role of travel in the generation of geographical knowledge of the eastern bloc by British geographers. Based on oral history and surveys of published work, the paper examines the roles of three kinds of travel experience: individual private travels, tours via state tourist agencies, and tours by academic delegations. Examples are drawn from across the eastern bloc, including the USSR, Poland, Romania, East Germany and Albania. The relationship between travel and publication is addressed, notably within textbooks, and in the Geographical Magazine. The study argues for the extension of accounts of cultures of geographical travel, and seeks to supplement the existing historiography of Cold War geography

Mitigation of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in Venture Capital Financing: The Influence of the Country’s Institutional Setting

A venture capitalist (VC) needs to trade off benefits and costs when attempting to mitigate agency problems in their investor-investee relationship. We argue that signals of ventures complement the VC’s capacity to screen and conduct a due diligence during the pre-investment phase, but its attractiveness may diminish in institutional settings supporting greater transparency. Similarly, whereas a VC may opt for contractual covenants to curb potential opportunism by ventures in the post-investment phase, this may only be effective in settings supportive of shareholder rights enforcement. Using an international sample of VC contracts, our study finds broad support for these conjectures. It delineates theoretical and practical implications for how investors can best deploy their capital in different institutional settings whilst nurturing their relationships with entrepreneurs

To what extent does a regional dialect and accent impact on the development of reading and writing skills?

The issue of whether a regional accent and/or dialect impact(s) on the development of literacy skills remains current in the UK. For decades the issue has dogged debate about education outcomes, portable skills and employability. The article summarizes research on the topic using systematic review methodology. A scoping review was undertaken with the research question ‘To what extent does a regional dialect and accent impact on the development of reading and writing skills?’. The review covers research relevant to the teaching of 5-16 year olds in England, but also draws on research within Europe, the USA, Australia and the Caribbean. The results suggest that curricula have marginalized language variation; that the impact of regional accent and dialect on writing is relatively minor; that young people are adept at style-shifting between standard and non-standard forms; and that inappropriate pedagogical responses to regional variation can have detrimental effects on children’s educational achievement