Pathways from physical frailty to activity limitation in older people: identifying moderators and mediators in the English longitudinal study of ageing

Physical frailty increases the risk of future activity limitation, which in turn, compromises independent living of older people and limits their healthspan. Thus, we seek to identify moderators and mediators of the effect of physical frailty on activity limitation change in older people, including gender- and age-specific effects. In a longitudinal study using data from waves 2, 4, and 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, unique physical frailty factor scores of 4,638 respondents aged 65 to 89 years are obtained from confirmatory factor analysis of physical frailty, which is specified by three indicators, namely slowness, weakness, and exhaustion. Using a series of autoregressive cross-lagged models, we estimate the effect of physical frailty factor score on activity limitation change, including its moderation by social conditions, and indirect effects through physical and psychological conditions. We find that the effect of physical frailty on activity limitation change is significantly stronger with older age, while it has significant indirect effects through low physical activity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment. In turn, indirect effects of physical frailty through low physical activity and cognitive impairment are stronger with older age. Sensitivity analyses suggest that these effects vary in their robustness to unmeasured confounding. We conclude that low physical activity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive impairment are potentially modifiable mediators on pathways from physical frailty to activity limitation in older people, including those who are very old. This evidence offers support for population-level interventions that target these conditions, to mitigate the effect of physical frailty on activity limitation, and thereby enhance healthspan

Optical Technologies for UV Remote Sensing Instruments

Over the last decade significant advances in technology have made possible development of instruments with substantially improved efficiency in the UV spectral region. In the area of optical coatings and materials, the importance of recent developments in chemical vapor deposited (CVD) silicon carbide (SiC) mirrors, SiC films, and multilayer coatings in the context of ultraviolet instrumentation design are discussed. For example, the development of chemically vapor deposited (CVD) silicon carbide (SiC) mirrors, with high ultraviolet (UV) reflectance and low scatter surfaces, provides the opportunity to extend higher spectral/spatial resolution capability into the 50-nm region. Optical coatings for normal incidence diffraction gratings are particularly important for the evolution of efficient extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrographs. SiC films are important for optimizing the spectrograph performance in the 90 nm spectral region. The performance evaluation of the flight optical components for the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) instrument, a spectroscopic instrument to fly aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, designed to study dynamic processes, temperatures, and densities in the plasma of the upper atmosphere of the Sun in the wavelength range from 50 nm to 160 nm, is discussed. The optical components were evaluated for imaging and scatter in the UV. The performance evaluation of SOHO/CDS (Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer) flight gratings tested for spectral resolution and scatter in the DGEF is reviewed and preliminary results on resolution and scatter testing of Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) technology development diffraction gratings are presented

How survey mode affects estimates of the prevalence of gambling harm: a multisurvey study

Recent general population surveys have produced highly variable estimates of the extent of problem gambling in Great Britain, ranging from as low as 0.4% to as high as 2.7% of adults. This level of uncertainty over the true level of problem gambling creates difficulties for policy makers and those planning treatment and support services for individuals and families affected by problem gambling. In this article, we assess the extent to which differences in approaches to sampling and measurement between surveys contribute to variability in estimates of problem gambling. We compare estimates of problem gambling using the Problem Gambling Severity Index across eight different surveys conducted at approximately the same time but which use different sampling and measurement strategies. Our findings show that surveys conducted online produce substantially higher estimates of problem gambling compared with in-person interview surveys. This is because online surveys, whether using probability or non-probability sampling, overrepresent people who are more likely to gamble online and to gamble frequently, relative to the proportions of these groups in the general population

Surface Layers in General Relativity and Their Relation to Surface Tensions

For a thin shell, the intrinsic 3-pressure will be shown to be analogous to -A, where A is the classical surface tension: First, interior and exterior Schwarzschild solutions will be matched together such that the surface layer generated at the common boundary has no gravitational mass; then its intrinsic 3-pressure represents a surface tension fulfilling Kelvin's relation between mean curvature and pressure difference in the Newtonian limit. Second, after a suitable definition of mean curvature, the general relativistic analogue to Kelvin's relation will be proven to be contained in the equation of motion of the surface layer.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, no figur

Incommensurable worldviews? Is public use of complementary and alternative medicines incompatible with support for science and conventional medicine?

Proponents of controversial Complementary and Alternative Medicines, such as homeopathy, argue that these treatments can be used with great effect in addition to, and sometimes instead of, ?conventional? medicine. In doing so, they accept the idea that the scientific approach to the evaluation of treatment does not undermine use of and support for some of the more controversial CAM treatments. For those adhering to the scientific canon, however, such efficacy claims lack the requisite evidential basis from randomised controlled trials. It is not clear, however, whether such opposition characterises the views of the general public. In this paper we use data from the 2009 Wellcome Monitor survey to investigate public use of and beliefs about the efficacy of a prominent and controversial CAM within the United Kingdom, homeopathy. We proceed by using Latent Class Analysis to assess whether it is possible to identify a sub-group of the population who are at ease in combining support for science and conventional medicine with use of CAM treatments, and belief in the efficacy of homeopathy. Our results suggest that over 40% of the British public maintain positive evaluations of both homeopathy and conventional medicine simultaneously. Explanatory analyses reveal that simultaneous support for a controversial CAM treatment and conventional medicine is, in part, explained by a lack of scientific knowledge as well as concerns about the regulation of medical research

Uncovering digital trace data biases: tracking undercoverage in web tracking data

In the digital age, understanding people’s online behaviours is vital. Digital trace data has emerged as a popular alternative to surveys, many times hailed as the gold standard. This study critically assesses the use of web tracking data to study online media exposure. Specifically, we focus on a critical error source of this type of data, tracking undercoverage: researchers’ failure to capture data from all the devices and browsers that individuals utilize to go online. Using data from Spain, Portugal, and Italy, we explore undercoverage in commercial online panels and simulate biases in online media exposure estimates. The paper shows that tracking undercoverage is highly prevalent when using commercial panels, with more than 70% of participants affected. In addition, the primary determinant of undercoverage is the type and number of devices employed for internet access, rather than individual characteristics and attitudes. Additionally, through a simulation study, it demonstrates that web tracking estimates, both univariate and multivariate, are often substantially biased due to tracking undercoverage. This shows evidence that web tracking data might be, effectively, biased. Methodologically, the paper showcases how survey questions can be used as auxiliary 15 information to identify and simulate web tracking errors

Policing by consent: understanding the dynamics of police power and legitimacy

This is the first of the country-specific European Social Survey topline results reports. Focusing on UK data from the Round 5 module entitled ‘trust in justice,' we link people’s perceptions of police legitimacy to their compliance with the law and their willingness to cooperate with the police and criminal courts. We also extend the existing literature by addressing wider forms of trust and people’s attachment to order and security. Framing the findings in the context of a long and rich history of policing by consent, we show the value of the European Social Survey in shaping public policy, practice and debate

Effects of saturation and fluctuating hotspots for flow observables in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We investigate the effects of saturation dynamics on midrapidity flow observables by adding fluctuating hotspots into the novel Monte Carlo EKRT (MC-EKRT) event generator for high-energy nuclear collisions. We demonstrate that the intensity of the saturation effects significantly affects the ratio between the flow coefficients $v_3$ and $v_2$ at the LHC. Adding a hotspot substructure to the nucleons enhances the saturation effects and improves the agreement with the measured data. We show that the collision-energy dependence of the flow coefficients obtained using the MC-EKRT initial states with hotspots is improved in comparison with the earlier event-by-event EKRT model. In addition, we present the results for the charged hadron multiplicity distribution in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC, and show that the minijet-multiplicity originating fluctuations of the saturation scale included in MC-EKRT, as well as the presence of hotspots, are necessary for describing the measured large-multiplicity tail in the distribution.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Teknologisen oppimisympäristön vaikutukset opettajiin ja oppilaisiin

Tiivistelmä. Kandidaatintyössä selvitetään kiihtyneen digitalisaation aiheuttamien oppimisympäristön muutoksien vaikutuksia opettajiin sekä oppilaisiin. Tutkielma koetaan tarpeelliseksi, sillä yhteiskunnassa on jatkuvaa keskustelua teknologian kuormittavasta vaikutuksesta opettajien keskuudessa, sekä useista teknologian haitallisista vaikutuksista lasten keskuudessa. Tavoitteenamme on selvittää mahdollisimman tuoretta lähdekirjallisuutta hyödyntäen useita teknologisen oppimisympäristön vaikutuksia pääsääntöisesti peruskouluikäisiin oppilaisiin sekä heidän opettajiinsa liittyen. Pohjustaaksemme vaikutuksien selvittämistä, tutkimme ensin lähdekirjallisuuden avulla myös teknologisen oppimisympäristön nykytilannetta Suomessa. Tutkielma on tehty kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jolloin se pohjaa aiemmin julkaistuun tutkimustietoon, sekä sen arvioimiseen. Teknologiaa ja digitalisaatiota käsitellessä lähdekirjallisuuden tuoreus on erityisen tärkeää, sillä aihe elää erittäin vilkkaasti digitalisaation liepeissä. Teknologia on erittäin nopeasti uusiutuvaa, joten aiheesta tehty tutkimuskin vanhenee erittäin nopeasti. Olemme huomioineet tämän lähdekirjallisuutta valitessa, keskittyen siksi mahdollisimman uuteen tutkimukseen. Tutkimukseen poimimme käsittelemämme lähdekirjallisuuden pohjalta muutamia pinnalle nousseita vaikutuksia opettajien ja oppilaiden keskuudessa, jotka koimme erityisen tärkeiksi. Teknologiset oppimisympäristöt ilmenivät opettajien ammatissa teknologisena kuormittavuutena ja -voimavarana, sekä teknostressin muodossa. Oppilailla digitalisoituneen oppimisympäristön lähdekirjallisuudesta pinnalle nousi ruutuajan lisääntyminen, nettikiusaamisen ilmeneminen sekä muuttuneiden oppimisympäristöjen vaikutukset. Molemmista kohderyhmistä löytyi sekä positiivisia, että negatiivisia vaikutteita teknologian pohjalta. On hankalaa puntaroida, onko positiivisten vaikutusten painoarvo suurempi kuin negatiivisten, mutta tutkimuksen tavoitteena ei olekaan selvittää kyseistä eroa. Keskitymme tutkimuksessa vain vaikutuksien ilmi tuomiseen, sekä niiden käsittelemiseen

MC-EKRT: Monte Carlo event generator with saturated minijet production for initializing 3+1 D fluid dynamics in high energy nuclear collisions

We present a novel Monte-Carlo implementation of the EKRT model, MC-EKRT, for computing partonic initial states in high-energy nuclear collisions. Our new MC-EKRT event generator is based on collinearly factorized, dynamically fluctuating pQCD minijet production, supplemented with a saturation conjecture that controls the low-$p_T$ particle production. Previously, the EKRT model has been very successful in describing low-$p_T$ observables at mid-rapidity in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. As novel features, our new MC implementation gives a full 3-dimensional initial state event-by-event, includes dynamical minijet-multiplicity fluctuations in the saturation and particle production, introduces a new type of spatially dependent nuclear parton distribution functions, and accounts for the conservation of energy/momentum and valence-quark number. In this proof-of-principle study, we average a large set of event-by-event MC-EKRT initial conditions and compute the rapidity and centrality dependence of the charged hadron multiplicities and elliptic flow for the LHC Pb+Pb and RHIC Au+Au collisions using 3+1 D viscous fluid-dynamical evolution. Also event-by-event fluctuations and decorrelations of initial eccentricities are studied. The good agreement with the rapidity-dependent data suggests that the same saturation mechanism that has been very successful in explaining the mid-rapidity observables, works well also at larger rapidities.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figure