14 research outputs found
How to Stop (Worrying and Love) the Bubble: Boundary Changing Solutions
We discover that a class of bubbles of nothing are embedded as time dependent
scaling limits of previous spacelike-brane solutions. With the right initial
conditions, a near-bubble solution can relax its expansion and open the compact
circle. Thermodynamics of the new class of solutions is discussed and the
relationships between brane/flux transitions, tachyon condensation and
imaginary D-branes are outlined. Finally, a related class of simultaneous
connected S-branes are also examined.Comment: 47 pages; v2 introduction to Weyl cards added, comments added,
references added, typos corrected, matches JHEP versio
Cohort Randomised Controlled Trial of a Multifaceted Podiatry Intervention for the Prevention of Falls in Older People (The REFORM Trial)
BACKGROUND: Falls are a major cause of morbidity among older people. A multifaceted podiatry intervention may reduce the risk of falling. This study evaluated such an intervention. DESIGN: Pragmatic cohort randomised controlled trial in England and Ireland. 1010 participants were randomised (493 to the Intervention group and 517 to Usual Care) to either: a podiatry intervention, including foot and ankle exercises, foot orthoses and, if required, new footwear, and a falls prevention leaflet or usual podiatry treatment plus a falls prevention leaflet. The primary outcome was the incidence rate of self-reported falls per participant in the 12 months following randomisation. Secondary outcomes included: proportion of fallers and those reporting multiple falls, time to first fall, fear of falling, Frenchay Activities Index, Geriatric Depression Scale, foot pain, health related quality of life, and cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: In the primary analysis were 484 (98.2%) intervention and 507 (98.1%) control participants. There was a small, non statistically significant reduction in the incidence rate of falls in the intervention group (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.88, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.05, p = 0.16). The proportion of participants experiencing a fall was lower (49.7 vs 54.9%, adjusted odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.00, p = 0.05) as was the proportion experiencing two or more falls (27.6% vs 34.6%, adjusted odds ratio 0.69, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.90, p = 0.01). There was an increase (p = 0.02) in foot pain for the intervention group. There were no statistically significant differences in other outcomes. The intervention was more costly but marginally more beneficial in terms of health-related quality of life (mean quality adjusted life year (QALY) difference 0.0129, 95% CI -0.0050 to 0.0314) and had a 65% probability of being cost-effective at a threshold of ÂŁ30,000 per QALY gained. CONCLUSION: There was a small reduction in falls. The intervention may be cost-effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN ISRCTN68240461
Onchocerciasis control programme in West Africa: ten years monitoring of fish populations
Commencing in 1975, under the auspices of W.H.O., weekly applications of insecticides have been employed to control the blackfly which transmits human river blindness in West Africa. The results provided in this paper do not show, as a whole, any clear impact of OCP-applied pesticides on fish populations. The total catch, the number of species caught in each sample and coefficient of condition, appeared to fluctuate around a mean value, and no long-term drop was observed over the period investigated. The seasonal pattern is generally clear. In some cases longer term declines occur, generally being followed by a rise correlating with changing hydrological conditions
Evaluating classification strategies for detection of circumscribed masses in digital mammograms
This paper reports work to investigate a computer aided diagnosis scheme for detection of circumscribed digitised masses in mammograms. The model used consists of three stages: The first segments the mammogram into regions of interest (ROIs), the second stage tries to eliminate the majority of false positives reported, and finally a third stage utilises more sophisticated processing to make a final decision on the likelihood of an ROI being a genuine mass. The paper is concerned with an evaluation of different classifiers in the difficult task of detection of masses, and the relationship between correct and incorrect detection, but also points the way to developing more sophisticated-and potentially more reliable-techniques based on the integration of multiple classifiers within a single processing structure. The study used 4 different classifiers: multivariate Gaussian classifier (MVG), radial basis function (RBF), Q-vector median (QVM), 1-nearest neighbour (1NN). Three different feature types were used: 3/sup rd/ order normalized Zernike moments, texture features, and a combined moment and textures feature vector. Various feature selection techniques have also been investigated to obtain feature sets which improve the performance of each classifier
The role of etiquette and experimentation in explaining how doctors change behaviour: a qualitative study
Elm clone identification and the conundrum of the slow spread of Dutch Elm Disease on the Isle of Man
Trente ans de lutte contre lâonchocercose en Afrique de lâOuest. Traitements larvicides et protection de lâenvironnement
La lutte contre l'onchocercose, ou cĂ©citĂ© des riviĂšres, une maladie parasitaire endĂ©mique, fut entreprise en Afrique de l'Ouest dans une perspective do dĂ©veloppement durable. Tous les moyens technologiques disponibles ont de ce fait Ă©tĂ© mobilisĂ©s pour le contrĂŽle du vecteur, une simulie, puis du parasite responsables de cette maladie, par le Programme de Lutte contre lâOnchocercose en Afrique de l'Ouest (OCP). La lutte antivectorielle consistant en Ă©pandages dâinsecticides chimiques sur les sites de dĂ©veloppement de la simulie dans les riviĂšres, il est apparu indispensable dâassurer la sauvegarde de lâenvironnement aquatique qui fournit aux communautĂ©s riveraines eau et ressources biologiques. Les technologies les plus modernes ont Ă©tĂ© mises en Ćuvre dĂšs leur mise au point, pour combattre la maladie, contribuant ainsi Ă la protection de ce milieu. Le programme de surveillance Ă©cologique des riviĂšres traitĂ©es par des larvicides anti-simulies a Ă©tĂ© mis en place dĂšs le lancement dâOCP. et assurĂ© par des spĂ©cialistes de I' hydrobiologie des pays africains participants du Programme, sous la supervision dâun groupe international dâexperts indĂ©pendants, le Groupe Ăcologique. OCP est incontestablement un succĂšs aussi bien pour ce qui est du contrĂŽle de la maladie que de la protection de l'environnement. Il est l'exemple unique au monde dâun programme de santĂ© publique de longue durĂ©e qui depuis son origine a mis en Ćuvre tout ce qui Ă©tait possible pour harmoniser les enjeux de lâamĂ©lioration de la santĂ© et ceux de la protection de lâenvironnement. Il s'est achevĂ© avec la satisfaction de laisser aux gĂ©nĂ©rations montantes un environnement non dĂ©gradĂ© et des vallĂ©es libĂ©rĂ©es de lâonchocercose, qui permettront dâaccroĂźtre la productivitĂ© agricole des pays africains.The control of onchocerciasis, or river blindness, an endemic parasitic disease, was implemented in West Africa in the perspective of sustainable development AH the available technological means to fight this disease, by way of the control of its blackfly vector, then its parasite, were therefore implemented by the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP). Vector control being achieved through applications of chemicals on its river breeding sites, it was necessary, at the same time, to fight for the preservation of the aquatic environment, which supplies the communities that live along the rivers with water and biological resources. This was the spirit in which the OCP was set up and implemented, and the most modem technologies were used as they become available to fight the disease, thus facilitating the preservation of the aquatic environment. This Programme has indisputably been a success as regards the control of the disease as also from the point of view of the preservation of the environment The aquatic monitoring programme of the rivers under treatment with anti-simulid larvicides was set up right from the very beginning, and performed by national experts of the Participating Countries of the Programme, under the aegis of a group of international independent experts, the Ecological Croup The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa is an unique example in the world of a long-term public health programme which has made every effort possible from its inception to adequately combine health and environment issues. It ended with the satisfaction of bequeathing to the coming generations a non degraded environment and valleys freed from onchocerciasis which would increase the agricultural productivity of the countries
A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height
Common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are predicted to collectively explain 40-50% of phenotypic variation in human height, but identifying the specific variants and associated regions requires huge sample sizes1. Here, using data from a genome-wide association study of 5.4âmillion individuals of diverse ancestries, we show that 12,111 independent SNPs that are significantly associated with height account for nearly all of the common SNP-based heritability. These SNPs are clustered within 7,209 non-overlapping genomic segments with a mean size of around 90âkb, covering about 21% of the genome. The density of independent associations varies across the genome and the regions of increased density are enriched for biologically relevant genes. In out-of-sample estimation and prediction, the 12,111 SNPs (or all SNPs in the HapMap 3 panel2) account for 40% (45%) of phenotypic variance in populations of European ancestry but only around 10-20% (14-24%) in populations of other ancestries. Effect sizes, associated regions and gene prioritization are similar across ancestries, indicating that reduced prediction accuracy is likely to be explained by linkage disequilibrium and differences in allele frequency within associated regions. Finally, we show that the relevant biological pathways are detectable with smaller sample sizes than are needed to implicate causal genes and variants. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive map of specific genomic regions that contain the vast majority of common height-associated variants. Although this map is saturated for populations of European ancestry, further research is needed to achieve equivalent saturation in other ancestries.Public Health and primary carePrevention, Population and Disease management (PrePoD
A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height
Common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are predicted to collectively explain 40-50% of phenotypic variation in human height, but identifying the specific variants and associated regions requires huge sample sizes1. Here, using data from a genome-wide association study of 5.4âmillion individuals of diverse ancestries, we show that 12,111 independent SNPs that are significantly associated with height account for nearly all of the common SNP-based heritability. These SNPs are clustered within 7,209 non-overlapping genomic segments with a mean size of around 90âkb, covering about 21% of the genome. The density of independent associations varies across the genome and the regions of increased density are enriched for biologically relevant genes. In out-of-sample estimation and prediction, the 12,111 SNPs (or all SNPs in the HapMap 3 panel2) account for 40% (45%) of phenotypic variance in populations of European ancestry but only around 10-20% (14-24%) in populations of other ancestries. Effect sizes, associated regions and gene prioritization are similar across ancestries, indicating that reduced prediction accuracy is likely to be explained by linkage disequilibrium and differences in allele frequency within associated regions. Finally, we show that the relevant biological pathways are detectable with smaller sample sizes than are needed to implicate causal genes and variants. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive map of specific genomic regions that contain the vast majority of common height-associated variants. Although this map is saturated for populations of European ancestry, further research is needed to achieve equivalent saturation in other ancestries.</p
A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height
Common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are predicted to collectively explain 40-50% of phenotypic variation in human height, but identifying the specific variants and associated regions requires huge sample sizes. Here, using data from a genome-wide association study of 5.4 million individuals of diverse ancestries, we show that 12,111 independent SNPs that are significantly associated with height account for nearly all of the common SNP-based heritability. These SNPs are clustered within 7,209 non-overlapping genomic segments with a mean size of around 90 kb, covering about 21% of the genome. The density of independent associations varies across the genome and the regions of increased density are enriched for biologically relevant genes. In out-of-sample estimation and prediction, the 12,111 SNPs (or all SNPs in the HapMap 3 panel) account for 40% (45%) of phenotypic variance in populations of European ancestry but only around 10-20% (14-24%) in populations of other ancestries. Effect sizes, associated regions and gene prioritization are similar across ancestries, indicating that reduced prediction accuracy is likely to be explained by linkage disequilibrium and differences in allele frequency within associated regions. Finally, we show that the relevant biological pathways are detectable with smaller sample sizes than are needed to implicate causal genes and variants. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive map of specific genomic regions that contain the vast majority of common height-associated variants. Although this map is saturated for populations of European ancestry, further research is needed to achieve equivalent saturation in other ancestries