Electronic health information and long term conditions

This article discusses the increasing availability of health-related information, and the impact that this can have for people with long-term conditions’ expectations of healthcare providers. The article suggests a framework for decision making about the role that healthcare staff should play in the information searching, retrieval, and synthesis activities which people with long-term conditions engage in. The framework is based on a series of decisions related to: perceptions of ownership of long-term conditions; whether intermediatory or apomediatory approaches to information management are deemed to be most appropriate; and, as a result of these considerations, what, if any, place healthcare staff should take in the process of patients searching or and interpreting information about long-term health needs. These decisions will enable healthcare providers to plan services based on clear decision pathways, and to clarify to all concerned what are deemed to be reasonable expectations of health service provision

Dimensional Crossover in the Large N Limit

We consider dimensional crossover for an $O(N)$ Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson model on a $d$-dimensional film geometry of thickness $L$ in the large $N$-limit. We calculate the full universal crossover scaling forms for the free energy and the equation of state. We compare the results obtained using ``environmentally friendly'' renormalization with those found using a direct, non-renormalization group approach. A set of effective critical exponents are calculated and scaling laws for these exponents are shown to hold exactly, thereby yielding non-trivial relations between the various thermodynamic scaling functions.Comment: 25 pages of PlainTe

The Specific Heat of a Ferromagnetic Film.

We analyze the specific heat for the $O(N)$ vector model on a $d$-dimensional film geometry of thickness $L$ using ``environmentally friendly'' renormalization. We consider periodic, Dirichlet and antiperiodic boundary conditions, deriving expressions for the specific heat and an effective specific heat exponent, \alpha\ef. In the case of $d=3$, for $N=1$, by matching to the exact exponent of the two dimensional Ising model we capture the crossover for \xi_L\ra\infty between power law behaviour in the limit {L\over\xi_L}\ra\infty and logarithmic behaviour in the limit {L\over\xi_L}\ra0 for fixed $L$, where $\xi_L$ is the correlation length in the transverse dimensions.Comment: 21 pages of Plain TeX. Postscript figures available upon request from [email protected]

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis as a natural anti-listerial agent in the mushroom industry

peer-reviewedMushroom growth substrates from different commercial producers of mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) were screened for the presence of bacteria with potential for use as biocontrol agents for controlling Listeria monocytogenes in the mushroom production environment. Eight anti-listerial strains were isolated from different sources and all were identified using 16s rRNA gene sequencing as Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis. Whole-genome sequencing of the Lc. lactis isolates indicated that strains from different sites and substrate types were highly similar. Colony MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry found that these strains were Nisin Z producers but inhibitory activity was highly influenced by the incubation conditions and was strain dependant. The biofilm forming ability of these strains was tested using a crystal violet assay and all were found to be strong biofilm formers. Growth of Lc. lactis subsp. lactis using mixed-biofilm conditions with L. monocytogenes on stainless steel resulted in a 4-log reduction of L. monocytogenes cell numbers. Additional sampling of mushroom producers showed that these anti-listerial Lc. lactis strains are commonly present in the mushroom production environment. Lc. lactis has a generally regarded as safe (GRAS) status and therefore has potential for use as an environmentally benign solution to control L. monocytogenes in order to prevent product contamination and to enhance consumer confidence in the mushroom industry

Sleep problems in childhood: a longitudinal study of developmental change and association with behavioral problems

Objective: The objective of the study was to examine specificity, order of appearance, and developmental changes in the relationships between sleep problems and behavioral problems in children. Method: Four hundred ninety children were selected from a large-scale longitudinal study of children growing up in adoptive and nonadoptive (biological) families in Colorado. Parental ratings of children’s sleep and behavioral problems on the Child Behavior Checklist were obtained from ages 4 to 15 years. Results: Sleep problems decreased from age 4 years to mid-adolescence, but there was modest stability of individual differences across this age range (r = 0.29). Regression analyses indicated that sleep problems at age 4 predicted behavioral/emotional problems in mid-adolescence after accounting for child sex, adoptive status, and stability of behavioral/ emotional problems. Finally, the correlation between sleep problems and depression/anxiety increased significantly during this age period from r = 0.39 at age 4 years to r = 0.52 at mid-adolescence. Conclusions: Early sleep problems may forecast behavioral/emotional problems, and there may be important developmental change in the overlap between sleep problems and behavioral/emotional problems

A quantitative analysis of grid-related systematic errors in oxidising capacity and ozone production rates in chemistry transport models

Limited resolution in chemistry transport models (CTMs) is necessarily associated with systematic errors in the calculated chemistry, due to the artificial mixing of species on the scale of the model grid (grid-averaging). Here, the errors in calculated hydroxyl radical (OH) concentrations and ozone production rates 3 are investigated quantitatively using both direct observations and model results. Photochemical steady-state models of radical chemistry are exploited in each case to examine the effect on both OH and 3 of averaging relatively long-lived precursor species, such as O3, NOx, CO, H2O, etc. over different spatial scales. Changes in modelled 3 are estimated, independently of other model errors, by calculating the systematic effect of spatial averaging on the ozone production efficiency 1, defined as the ratio of ozone molecules produced per NOx molecule destroyed. Firstly, an investigation of in-flight measurements suggests that, at least in the northern midlatitude upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere, averaging precursor species on the scale of a T42 grid (2.75° x 2.75°) leads to a 15-20% increase in OH concentrations and a 5-10% increase in 1. Secondly, results from CTM model experiments are compared at different horizontal resolutions. Low resolution experiments are found to have significantly higher [OH] and 3 compared with high resolution experiments. The extent to which these differences may be explained by the systematic error in the model chemistry associated with grid size is estimated by degrading the high resolution data onto a low resolution grid and then recalculating 1 and [OH]. The change in calculated 1 is found to be significant and can account for much of the difference in 3 between the high and low resolution experiments. The calculated change in [OH] is less than the difference in [OH] found between the experiments, although the shortfall is likely to be due to the indirect effect of the change in modelled NOx, which is not accounted for in the calculation. It is argued that systematic errors caused by limited resolution need to be considered when evaluating the relative impacts of different pollutant sources on tropospheric ozone

Opportunities for disruptive advances through engineering for next generation energy storage

Throughout human history, major economic disruption has been due to technological breakthroughs. Since 1990 the energy density of lithium-ion cells has increased by a factor of four and the cost has dropped by a factor of 10. This has caused disruption to the energy industry, but advances are slowing. The manufacturing and supply chain complexity means that the next big technology will take 15 years to dominate. The academic literature charts this process of development and can be used to show what is in the pipeline. Three candidates that have had a large increase in publication count are: lithium sulphur, solid-state, and sodium-ion technology. From the level of investments in start-ups and academic publication counts, solid‑state cells are closest to maturity. To identify disruption potential, look at uncertainty in performance. Cell lifetime in lithium-ion cells indicates room for improvement. Define a new disruption metric: . Look for areas of industry that lower this metric. Thermal management is a lucrative area for improvement. Cooling the cell tabs of a 5Ah cell reduces the lifetime cost by 66%, compared to 8%/pa for 13 years relying on cost reduction. Second life applications lower the lifetime cost by using the remaining 75% of energy throughput available in a cell after use in an electric vehicle. Drop-in changes to standard manufacturing processes enable huge disruption. Electrolyte additives can increase cell life by 10 times, lowering lifetime cost by 90% in a simple manufacturing intervention

The scaling region of the lattice O(N) sigma model at finite temperature

We present results from numerical studies of the finite temperature phase transition of the $(3+1)d$ O(N)-symmetric non-linear sigma model for $N=1,2$ and 3. We study the dependence of the width of the 3d critical region on $N$ and we show that the broken phase scaling region is much wider for N=2 and 3 than for N=1. We also compare the widths of the critical region in the low $T$ and high $T$ phases of the O(2) model and we show that the scaling region in the broken phase is much wider than in the symmetric phase. We also report results for the width of the scaling regions in the low $T$ phase$(2+1)d$ Ising model and we show that the spatial correlation length has to be approximately twice the lattice temporal extent before the 2d scaling region is reached.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Labour Market Institutions in the Brazilian Variety of Capitalism since 2003: Evidence from the Construction Industry

This research project seeks explanations for an inconsistency between onerously-regulated, stable labour market institutions (LMIs) and everyday employment in the Brazilian variety of capitalism. The study adopts a new institutionalist approach and findings are based upon qualitative research on industrial relations in the construction industry. A key focus of the thesis is upon dynamic institutional interactions, known as complementarities, and their influence upon political processes relevant to labour. This aims to contribute to the understanding of institutional change and continuity during a key juncture in Brazilian development; a period of sustained economic growth and stability, accompanied by falling poverty and inequality under a Workers’ Party (PT) government since 2003. Chapter 1 introduces the new institutionalist approach and why it offers the most appropriate methodological set of tools to address the research problem. Chapter 2 discusses the relevance of the historical period analysed (2003-2015) and discusses the Brazilian variety of capitalism in light of the coordinated, hierarchical and liberal models. Chapter 3 traces the history of LMIs in Brazil and finds an embedded historical legacy still influential in the contemporary workplace. Chapters 4-6 enter into the construction industry case study element of the thesis with chapter 4 an exploratory analysis of employment relations. Networks of mistrust are identified as a source of the inconsistency between the regulated LMI system and reality of employment. Labour representation and regulation are identified as two key issues analysed in more detail in the remaining two chapters (5 and 6). From a new institutional perspective, explanations for the inconsistency identified are found to be related to a composite set of interrelated factors with historical, informal, formal and rational choice elements. The research findings address more reductionist and static accounts as well as some popular misconceptions on the Brazilian LMI system. Within comparative capitalisms debates, Schneider (2013) categorises the Latin American institutional model as hierarchical. A further aim of this research is to extend upon this model with an analysis of LMIs in the Brazilian variety of capitalism. Brazil, in its stable and influential trade union institutions is argued to represent a variation of Schneider’s hierarchical market economy