12,317 research outputs found
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The response to receiving phenotypic and genetic coronary heart disease risk scores and lifestyle advice – a qualitative study
BACKGROUND: Individuals routinely receive information about their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) based on traditional risk factors as part of their primary care. We are also able to calculate individual's risk of CHD based on their genetic information and at present genetic testing for common diseases is available to the public. Due to the limitations in previous studies further understanding is needed about the impact of the risk information on individual's well-being and health-behaviour. We aimed to explore the short term response to receiving different forms of CHD risk information and lifestyle advice for risk reduction. METHODS: We conducted fourty-one face-to-face interviews and two focus groups across England with participants from the INFORM trial who received a combination of individualised phenotypic and genotypic CHD risk scores and web-based lifestyle advice. Risk scores were presented in different formats, e.g. absolute 10 year risk was presented as a thermometer and expressed as a percentage, natural frequency and 'heart age'. Interviews and focus groups explored participants' understanding and reaction to the risk scores and attempts to change lifestyle during the intervention. We tape-recorded and transcribed the interviews and focus groups and analysed them using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: limitations of risk scores to generate concern about CHD risk; the advantages of the 'heart age' format of risk score presentation in communicating a message of sub-optimal lifestyle; and intentions and attempts to make moderate lifestyle changes which were prompted by the web-based lifestyle advice. CONCLUSIONS: There are a number of limitations to the use of risk scores to communicate a message about the need for a lifestyle change. Of the formats used, the 'heart age', if noticed, appears to convey the most powerful message about how far from optimal risk an individual person is. An interactive, user friendly, goal setting based lifestyle website can act as a trigger to initiate moderate lifestyle changes, regardless of concerns about risk scores.INFORM is funded by European Commission Framework 7 EPIC-CVD Grant agreement no: 279233. NHS Blood and Transplant funded the INTERVAL trial. DNA extraction and genotyping in INTERVAL/INFORM was funded by the UK National Institute of Health Research. The coordinating team for INTERVAL/INFORM at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit of the University of Cambridge was supported by core funding from: UK Medical Research Council (G0800270), British Heart Foundation (SP/09/002), British Heart Foundation Cambridge Cardiovascular Centre of Excellence, and UK National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Single-particle and collective excitations in a charged Bose gas at finite temperature
The main focus of this work is on the predictions made by the dielectric
formalism in regard to the relationship between single-particle and collective
excitation spectra in a gas of point-like charged bosons at finite temperature
below the critical region of Bose-Einstein condensation. Illustrative
numerical results at weak coupling () are presented within the Random
Phase Approximation. We show that within this approach the single-particle
spectrum forms a continuum extending from the transverse to the longitudinal
plasma mode frequency and leading to a double-peak structure as increases,
whereas the density fluctuation spectrum consists of a single broadening peak.
We also discuss the momentum distribution and the superfluidity of the gas.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Numerical calculations of a high brilliance synchrotron source and on issues with characterizing strong radiation damping effects in non-linear Thomson/Compton backscattering experiments
A number of theoretical calculations have studied the effect of radiation
reaction forces on radiation distributions in strong field counter-propagating
electron beam-laser interactions, but could these effects - including quantum
corrections - be observed in interactions with realistic bunches and focusing
fields, as is hoped in a number of soon to be proposed experiments? We present
numerical calculations of the angularly resolved radiation spectrum from an
electron bunch with parameters similar to those produced in laser wakefield
acceleration experiments, interacting with an intense, ultrashort laser pulse.
For our parameters, the effects of radiation damping on the angular
distribution and energy distribution of \emph{photons} is not easily
discernible for a "realistic" moderate emittance electron beam. However,
experiments using such a counter-propagating beam-laser geometry should be able
to measure such effects using current laser systems through measurement of the
\emph{electron beam} properties. In addition, the brilliance of this source is
very high, with peak spectral brilliance exceeding
photonssmmmrad% bandwidth with
approximately 2% efficiency and with a peak energy of 10 MeV.Comment: 11 figures, 11 page
Using White Dish CMB Anisotropy Data to Probe Open and Flat-Lambda CDM Cosmogonies
We use data from the White Dish experiment to set limits on cosmic microwave
background radiation anisotropies in open and spatially-flat-Lambda cold dark
matter cosmogonies. We account for the White Dish calibration uncertainty, and
marginalize over the offset and gradient removed from the data. Our 2-sigma
upper limits are larger than those derived previously. These upper limits are
consistent with those derived from the -DMR data for all models tested.Comment: 17 pages of latex. Uses aasms4.sty. 4 figures included. Submitted to
ApJ
First Results from SPARO: Evidence for Large-Scale Toroidal Magnetic Fields in the Galactic Center
We have observed the linear polarization of 450 micron continuum emission
from the Galactic center, using a new polarimetric detector system that is
operated on a 2 m telescope at the South Pole. The resulting polarization map
extends ~ 170 pc along the Galactic plane and ~ 30 pc in Galactic latitude, and
thus covers a significant fraction of the central molecular zone. Our map shows
that this region is permeated by large-scale toroidal magnetic fields. We
consider our results together with radio observations that show evidence for
poloidal fields in the Galactic center, and with Faraday rotation observations.
We compare all of these observations with the predictions of a magnetodynamic
model for the Galactic center that was proposed in order to explain the
Galactic Center Radio Lobe as a magnetically driven gas outflow. We conclude
that the observations are basically consistent with the model.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, submitted to ApJ Let
FFTF Event Fact Sheet root cause analysis calendar year 1985 through 1988
The Event Fact Sheets written from January 1985 through mid August 1988 were reviewed to determine their root causes. The review group represented many of the technical disciplines present in plant operation. The review was initiated as an internal critique aimed at maximizing the ``lessons learned`` from the event reporting system. The root causes were subjected to a Pareto analysis to determine the significant causal factor groups. Recommendations for correction of the high frequency causal factors were then developed and presented to the FFTF Plant management. In general, the distributions of the causal factors were found to closely follow the industry averages. The impacts of the events were also studied and it was determined that we generally report events of a level of severity below that of the available studies. Therefore it is concluded that the recommendations for corrective action are ones to improve the overall quality of operations and not to correct significant operational deficiencies. 17 figs
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24 Command Fire Improvement Action Program Plan
Fluor Hanford (FH) is responsible for providing support to the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (RL) in the implementation of the Hanford Emergency Preparedness (EP) program. During fiscal year 2000, a number of program improvements were identified from various sources including a major range fire (24 Command Fire). Evaluations of the emergency preparedness program have confirmed that it currently meets all requirements and that performance of personnel involved is good, however the desire to effect continuous improvement resulted in the development of this improvement program plan. This program plan defines the activities that will be performed in order to achieve the desired performance improvements
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