87 research outputs found
Faecal metabarcoding reveals pervasive long-distance impacts of garden bird feeding
Supplementary feeding of wildlife is widespread, being undertaken by more than half of households in many countries. However, the impact that these supplemental resources have is unclear, with impacts largely considered to be restricted to urban ecosystems. We reveal the pervasiveness of supplementary foodstuffs in the diet of a wild bird using metabarcoding of blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) faeces collected in early spring from a 220 km transect in Scotland with a large urbanization gradient. Supplementary foodstuffs were present in the majority of samples, with peanut (Arachis hypogaea) the single commonest (either natural or supplementary) dietary item. Consumption rates exhibited a distance decay from human habitation but remained high at several hundred metres from the nearest household and continued to our study limit of 1.4 km distant. Supplementary food consumption was associated with a near quadrupling of blue tit breeding density and a 5-day advancement of breeding phenology. We show that woodland bird species using supplementary food have increasing UK population trends, while species that do not, and/or are outcompeted by blue tits, are likely to be declining. We suggest that the impacts of supplementary feeding are larger and more spatially extensive than currently appreciated and could be disrupting population and ecosystem dynamics
Informed, Involved and Influential: The 3 I's model of Shared Decision Making in Mental Health Care
Collaboration between service users and mental health professionals is at the heart of values based practice and shared decision making. However, there has been limited analysis of the implications of these approaches within a healthcare context that
involves depriving service users of their freedom. This article proposes a framework that aims to promote shared decision making which acknowledges, all participants must be Informed, Involved and Influential in the decision-making process. However,
these are fluid; they refer to a sliding scale of influence that moves between these different positions depending on context, capacity and desire to influence
Leptospirosis in “Eco-Challenge” Athletes, Malaysian Borneo, 2000
Adventure travel is becoming more popular, increasing the likelihood of contact with unusual pathogens. We investigated an outbreak of leptospirosis in “Eco-Challenge” multisport race athletes to determine illness etiology and implement public health measures. Of 304 athletes, we contacted 189 (62%) from the United States and 26 other countries. Eighty (42%) athletes met our case definition. Twenty-nine (36%) case-patients were hospitalized; none died. Logistic regression showed swimming in the Segama River (relative risk [RR]=2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.3 to 3.1) to be an independent risk factor. Twenty-six (68%) of 38 case-patients tested positive for leptospiral antibodies. Taking doxycycline before or during the race was protective (RR=0.4, 95% CI=0.2 to 1.2) for the 20 athletes who reported using it. Increased adventure travel may lead to more frequent exposure to leptospires, and preexposure chemoprophylaxis for leptospirosis (200 mg oral doxycycline/week) may decrease illness risk. Efforts are needed to inform adventure travel participants of unique infections such as leptospirosis
Erythromycin-nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae in Children, 1999–2001
After increasing from 1995 to 1999, invasive erythromycin-nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae rates per 100,000 decreased 53.6% in children from Baltimore, Maryland (US), from 1999 to 2001, which was partially attributed to strains related to the mefE-carrying England14-9 clone. The decline in infection rates was likely due to the pneumococcal 7-valent conjugate vaccine
Theory, Phenomenology, and Prospects for Detection of Supersymmetric Dark Matter
One of the great attractions of minimal super-unified supersymmetric models
is the prediction of a massive, stable, weakly interacting particle (the
lightest supersymmetric partner, LSP) which can have the right relic abundance
to be a cold dark matter candidate. In this paper we investigate the identity,
mass, and properties of the LSP after requiring gauge coupling unification,
proper electroweak symmetry breaking, and numerous phenomenological
constraints. We then discuss the prospects for detecting the LSP from (1) LSP
annihilations into positrons, anti-protons, and gamma rays in the galactic
halo, (2) large underground arrays to detect upward going muons arising from
LSP capture and annihilation in the sun and earth, (3) elastic collisions on
matter in a table top apparatus, and (4) production of LSPs or decays into LSPs
at high energy colliders. Our conclusions are that space annihilation
experiments and large underground detectors are of limited help in initially
detecting the LSP although perhaps they could provide confirmation of a signal
seen in other experiments, while table top detectors have considerable
discovery potential. Colliders, however, might be the best dark matter
detectors of all.Comment: 32 pages, 18 figures (not included). Full postscript version
available via anonymous ftp at ftp://141.211.96.66/pub/preprint
Projected sensitivities of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment to new physics via low-energy electron recoils
LUX-ZEPLIN is a dark matter detector expected to obtain world-leading sensitivity to weakly-interacting massive particles interacting via nuclear recoils with a
∼
7
-tonne xenon target mass. This paper presents sensitivity projections to several low-energy signals of the complementary electron recoil signal type: 1) an effective neutrino magnetic moment, and 2) an effective neutrino millicharge, both for
p
p
-chain solar neutrinos, 3) an axion flux generated by the Sun, 4) axionlike particles forming the Galactic dark matter, 5) hidden photons, 6) mirror dark matter, and 7) leptophilic dark matter. World-leading sensitivities are expected in each case, a result of the large 5.6 t 1000 d exposure and low expected rate of electron-recoil backgrounds in the
<
100
keV
energy regime. A consistent signal generation, background model and profile-likelihood analysis framework is used throughout
Background Determination for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment
The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment recently reported limits on WIMP-nucleus
interactions from its initial science run, down to cm
for the spin-independent interaction of a 36 GeV/c WIMP at 90% confidence
level. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the backgrounds
important for this result and for other upcoming physics analyses, including
neutrinoless double-beta decay searches and effective field theory
interpretations of LUX-ZEPLIN data. We confirm that the in-situ determinations
of bulk and fixed radioactive backgrounds are consistent with expectations from
the ex-situ assays. The observed background rate after WIMP search criteria
were applied was events/keV/kg/day in the
low-energy region, approximately 60 times lower than the equivalent rate
reported by the LUX experiment.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figure
A search for new physics in low-energy electron recoils from the first LZ exposure
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a dark matter detector centered on a
dual-phase xenon time projection chamber. We report searches for new physics
appearing through few-keV-scale electron recoils, using the experiment's first
exposure of 60 live days and a fiducial mass of 5.5t. The data are found to be
consistent with a background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on models for
new physics including solar axion electron coupling, solar neutrino magnetic
moment and millicharge, and electron couplings to galactic axion-like particles
and hidden photons. Similar limits are set on weakly interacting massive
particle (WIMP) dark matter producing signals through ionized atomic states
from the Migdal effect.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. See https://tinyurl.com/LZDataReleaseRun1ER for
a data release related to this pape
Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma.
Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We
aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.
Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries.
Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the
minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and
had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were
randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical
apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to
100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a
maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h
for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to
allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients
who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable.
This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124.
Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid
(5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated
treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the
tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18).
Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and
placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein
thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of
5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98).
Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our
results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a
randomised trial
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