Shaping the future for primary care education and training project. Integrated health and social care: the perspectives of people using services: a mixed methods analysis

The aim of this study was to explore service users' perspectives concerning integrated health & social care, and to identify the perceived strengths and weaknesses associated with the current workforce and services provided. The findings will be used to inform the education and training of the health and social care workforce in the North West of Englan

A spatio-temporal entropy-based approach for the analysis of cyber attacks (demo paper)

Computer networks are ubiquitous systems growing exponentially with a predicted 50 billion devices connected by 2050. This dramatically increases the potential attack surface of Internet networks. A key issue in cyber defense is to detect, categorize and identify these attacks, the way they are propagated and their potential impacts on the systems affected. The research presented in this paper models cyber attacks at large by considering the Internet as a complex system in which attacks are propagated over a network. We model an attack as a path from a source to a target, and where each attack is categorized according to its intention. We setup an experimental testbed with the concept of honeypot that evaluates the spatiotemporal distribution of these Internet attacks. The preliminary results show a series of patterns in space and time that illustrate the potential of the approach, and how cyber attacks can be categorized according to the concept and measure of entropy

Rapamycin has no effect on fibrosis-associated gene expression or extracellular matrix accumulation when administered to animals with established or early allograft vasculopathy

AbstractBackgroundMost patients with functioning heart transplants have established and progressive chronic allograft vasculopathy, a fibroproliferative process for which there is no effective treatment. Coronary artery disease is characterized by histologic evidence of extracellular matrix accumulation (fibrosis). This study compares the effect of rapamycin administered to rats with established allograft vasculopathy on histologic indices of disease progression, extracellular matrix accumulation (fibrosis), and the expression of genes known to regulate extracellular matrix turnover in this model.MethodsLewis recipients of Fisher 344 rat thoracic to abdominal aorta transplants were administered rapamycin starting at 8, 12, and 16 weeks posttransplant or no treatment. Six grafts in each group were harvested at 24 weeks. Vascular remodeling and collagen accumulation (Sirius red) were measured by computerized histomorphometry of aortic sections. mRNA was extracted from frozen tissue, and the expression of fibrosis-associated genes was studied by means of semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.ResultsRapamycin had no effect on the progression of early or established allograft vasculopathy with regard to intimal thickening, remodeling, extracellular matrix accumulation, or profibrotic gene expression, regardless of the time commenced.ConclusionThe attenuation of the fibroproliferative response in rodents by rapamycin is not seen if the onset of rapamycin therapy is delayed

Systematic study of Optical Feshbach Resonances in an ideal gas

Using a narrow intercombination line in alkaline earth atoms to mitigate large inelastic losses, we explore the Optical Feshbach Resonance (OFR) effect in an ultracold gas of bosonic $^{88}$Sr. A systematic measurement of three resonances allows precise determinations of the OFR strength and scaling law, in agreement with coupled-channels theory. Resonant enhancement of the complex scattering length leads to thermalization mediated by elastic and inelastic collisions in an otherwise ideal gas. OFR could be used to control atomic interactions with high spatial and temporal resolution.Comment: Significant changes to text and figure presentation to improve clarity. Extended supplementary material. 4 pages, 4 figures; includes supplementary material 8 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer risks in relation to occupational history and asbestos lung burden.

BACKGROUND: We have conducted a population-based study of pleural mesothelioma patients with occupational histories and measured asbestos lung burdens in occupationally exposed workers and in the general population. The relationship between lung burden and risk, particularly at environmental exposure levels, will enable future mesothelioma rates in people born after 1965 who never installed asbestos to be predicted from their asbestos lung burdens. METHODS: Following personal interview asbestos fibres longer than 5 µm were counted by transmission electron microscopy in lung samples obtained from 133 patients with mesothelioma and 262 patients with lung cancer. ORs for mesothelioma were converted to lifetime risks. RESULTS: Lifetime mesothelioma risk is approximately 0.02% per 1000 amphibole fibres per gram of dry lung tissue over a more than 100-fold range, from 1 to 4 in the most heavily exposed building workers to less than 1 in 500 in most of the population. The asbestos fibres counted were amosite (75%), crocidolite (18%), other amphiboles (5%) and chrysotile (2%). CONCLUSIONS: The approximate linearity of the dose-response together with lung burden measurements in younger people will provide reasonably reliable predictions of future mesothelioma rates in those born since 1965 whose risks cannot yet be seen in national rates. Burdens in those born more recently will indicate the continuing occupational and environmental hazards under current asbestos control regulations. Our results confirm the major contribution of amosite to UK mesothelioma incidence and the substantial contribution of non-occupational exposure, particularly in women

Effect of enclosure shape on natural convection velocities

A numerical analysis was performed to compare natural convection velocities in two dimensional enclosures of various shape. The following shapes were investigated: circle, square, horizontal and upright 2 x 1 aspect ratio rectangles, horizontal and upright half circles, diamond. In all cases, the length scale in the various dimensionless parameters, such as Rayleigh number, is defined as the diameter of the equal area circle. Natural convection velocities were calculated for Rayleigh numbers of 1000 and 5000 with the temperature difference taken to be across (1) the maximum horizontal dimension, (2) the median horizontal line (line through centroid) and (3) the horizontal distance such that the temperature gradient is the same for shapes of equal area. For the class of shapes including the square, upright half circle and upright rectangle, the computed velocities were found to agree very closely with that of the equal area circle when the temperature difference is taken to be across the maximum horizontal dimension (condition (a)). The velocities for the horizontal rectangle and half circle were found to be approximately one half that of the equal area circle for the same condition. Better overall agreement among all shapes was obtained by setting the temperature difference across a distance such that the temperature gradients were equal for shapes of equal area