Alcohol consumption after health deterioration in older adults: a mixed-methods study

Objective To examine if and how older adults modify their drinking after health deterioration, and the factors that motivate changing or maintaining stable drinking behaviour. Study design Explanatory follow-up mixed-methods research. Methods The association between health deterioration and changes in alcohol consumption was examined using secondary data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a biennial prospective cohort study of a random sample of adults aged 50 years and older living in England. Data were collected through a personal interview and self-completion questionnaire across three waves between 2004 and 2009. The sample size (response rate) across the three waves was 8781 (49.9%), 7168 (40.3%) and 6623 (37.3%). The Chi-squared test was used to examine associations between diagnosis with a long-term condition or a worsening of self-rated health (e.g. from good to fair or fair to poor) and changes in drinking frequency (e.g. everyday, 5–6 days per week, etc.) and volume (ethanol consumed on a drinking day) between successive waves. In-depth interviews with 19 older adults recently diagnosed with a long-term condition were used to explore the factors that influenced change or maintenance in alcohol consumption over time. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit a diverse sample of current and former drinkers from voluntary and community organizations in the north of England. An inductive approach was used to analyze the data, facilitating the development of an a posteriori framework for understanding drinking change. Results There was no significant relationship between health deterioration and changes in drinking volume over time. There was however a significant association between health deterioration and changes in drinking frequency between successive waves (χ2 = 15.24, P < 0.001 and χ2 = 17.28, P < 0.001). For example, of participants reporting health deterioration between the first two waves, 47.6% had stable drinking frequency, 23.4% increased their drinking frequency and 29% reported decreased drinking frequency. In comparison, of participants reporting no health deterioration, 52.7% reported stable frequency, 20.8% increased frequency and 26.4% decreased frequency. In qualitative interviews, older adults described a wide range of factors that influence changes in drinking behaviour: knowledge gained from talking to healthcare professionals, online and in the media; tangible negative experiences that were attributed to drinking; mood and emotions (e.g. joy); the cost of alcohol; pub closures; and changes in social roles and activities. Health was just one part of a complex mix of factors that influenced drinking among older adults. Conclusion Patterns of drinking change after health deterioration in older adults are diverse, including stable, increasing and decreasing alcohol consumption over time. Although health motivations to change drinking influence behaviour in some older adults, social and financial motivations to drink are also important in later life and thus a holistic approach is required to influence behaviour

Demonstration of a novel technique to measure two-photon exchange effects in elastic e±pe^\pm p scattering

The discrepancy between proton electromagnetic form factors extracted using unpolarized and polarized scattering data is believed to be a consequence of two-photon exchange (TPE) effects. However, the calculations of TPE corrections have significant model dependence, and there is limited direct experimental evidence for such corrections. We present the results of a new experimental technique for making direct $e^\pm p$ comparisons, which has the potential to make precise measurements over a broad range in $Q^2$ and scattering angles. We use the Jefferson Lab electron beam and the Hall B photon tagger to generate a clean but untagged photon beam. The photon beam impinges on a converter foil to generate a mixed beam of electrons, positrons, and photons. A chicane is used to separate and recombine the electron and positron beams while the photon beam is stopped by a photon blocker. This provides a combined electron and positron beam, with energies from 0.5 to 3.2 GeV, which impinges on a liquid hydrogen target. The large acceptance CLAS detector is used to identify and reconstruct elastic scattering events, determining both the initial lepton energy and the sign of the scattered lepton. The data were collected in two days with a primary electron beam energy of only 3.3 GeV, limiting the data from this run to smaller values of $Q^2$ and scattering angle. Nonetheless, this measurement yields a data sample for $e^\pm p$ with statistics comparable to those of the best previous measurements. We have shown that we can cleanly identify elastic scattering events and correct for the difference in acceptance for electron and positron scattering. The final ratio of positron to electron scattering: $R=1.027\pm0.005\pm0.05$ for $=0.206$ GeV$^2$ and $0.830\leq \epsilon\leq 0.943$

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

Thermodynamics of pyrope-majorite, Mg3Al2Si3O12-Mg4Si4O12, solid solution from atomistic model calculations

Static lattice energy calculations, based on empirical pair potentials have been performed for a large set of different structures with compositions between pyrope and majorite, and with different states of order of octahedral cations. The energies have been cluster expanded using pair and quaternary terms. The derived ordering constants have been used to constrain Monte Carlo simulations of temperature-dependent properties in the ranges of 1073 3673K and 0 20 GPa. The free energies of mixing have been calculated using the method of thermodynamic integration. At zero pressure the cubic/tetragonal transition is predicted for pure majorite at 3300 K. The transition temperature decreases with the increase of the pyrope mole fraction. A miscibility gap associated with the transition starts to develop at about 2000K and xmaj 0.8, and widens with the decrease in temperature and the increase in pressure. Activity composition relations in the range of 0 20 GPa and 1073 2673K are described with the help of a high-order Redlich Kister polynomial

Is X(3872) {\sl Really} a Molecular State?

After taking into account both the pion and sigma meson exchange potential, we have performed a dynamical calculation of the $D^0\bar{D}^{\ast0}$ system. The $\sigma$ meson exchange potential is repulsive from heavy quark symmetry and numerically important for a loosely bound system. Our analysis disfavors the interpretation of X(3872) as a loosely bound molecular state if we use the experimental $D^\ast D\pi$ coupling constant $g=0.59$ and a reasonable cutoff around 1 GeV, which is the typical hadronic scale. Bound state solutions with negative eigenvalues for the $D\bar{D}^\ast$ system exist only with either a very large coupling constant (two times of the experimental value) or a large cutoff ($\Lambda \sim 6$ GeV or $\beta \sim 6$ GeV$^2$). In contrast, there probably exists a loosely bound S-wave $B\bar{B}^\ast$ molecular state. Once produced, such a molecular state would be rather stable since its dominant decay mode is the radiative decay through $B^\ast\to B \gamma$. Experimental search of these states will be very interesting.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables. The version to appear in EPJ

Phenomenology of Pc(4380)+, Pc(4450)+ and related states

The $P_c(4380)^+$ and $P_c(4450)^+$ states recently discovered at LHCb have masses close to several relevant thresholds, which suggests they can be described in terms of meson-baryon degrees of freedom. This article explores the phenomenology of these states, and their possible partners, from this point of view. Competing models can be distinguished by the masses of the neutral partners which have yet to be observed, and the existence or otherwise of further partners with different isospin, spin, and parity. Future experimental studies in different decay channels can also discriminate among models, using selection rules and algebraic relations among decays. Among the several possible meson-baryon pairs which could be important, one implies that the states are mixtures of isospins 1/2 and 3/2, with characteristic signatures in production and decay. A previous experimental study of a Cabibbo-suppressed decay showed no evidence for the states, and further analysis is required to establish the significance of this non-observation. Several intriguing similarities suggest that $P_c(4450)^+$ is related to the $X(3872)$ meson.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure. Journal version (some very minor changes from arXiv v1

Propaganda in an Age of Algorithmic Personalization: Expanding Literacy Research and Practice

In this commentary, the author considers the rise of algorithmic personalization and the power of propaganda as they shift the dynamic landscape of 21st‐century literacy research and practice. Algorithmic personalization uses data from the behaviors, beliefs, interests, and emotions of the target audience to provide filtered digital content, targeted advertising, and differential product pricing to online users. As persuasive genres, advertising and propaganda may demand different types of reading practices than texts whose purpose is primarily informational or argumentative. Understanding the propaganda function of algorithmic personalization may lead to a deeper consideration of texts that activate emotion and tap into audience values for aesthetic, commercial, and political purposes. Increased attention to algorithmic personalization, propaganda, and persuasion in the context of K–12 literacy education may also help people cope with sponsored content, bots, and other forms of propaganda and persuasion that now circulate online