Construction of Parseval wavelets from redundant filter systems

We consider wavelets in L^2(R^d) which have generalized multiresolutions. This means that the initial resolution subspace V_0 in L^2(R^d) is not singly generated. As a result, the representation of the integer lattice Z^d restricted to V_0 has a nontrivial multiplicity function. We show how the corresponding analysis and synthesis for these wavelets can be understood in terms of unitary-matrix-valued functions on a torus acting on a certain vector bundle. Specifically, we show how the wavelet functions on R^d can be constructed directly from the generalized wavelet filters.Comment: 34 pages, AMS-LaTeX ("amsproc" document class) v2 changes minor typos in Sections 1 and 4, v3 adds a number of references on GMRA theory and wavelet multiplicity analysis; v4 adds material on pages 2, 3, 5 and 10, and two more reference

Seasonal trivalent influenza vaccination during pregnancy and the incidence of stillbirth: population-based retrospective cohort study

Concern for the safety to the fetus is a commonly cited reason for vaccine refusal during pregnancy. Results from this investigation support the safety of seasonal influenza vaccination during pregnancy and suggest seasonal influenza vaccination may be protective against stillbirth

Localizations at infinity and essential spectrum of quantum Hamiltonians: I. General theory

We isolate a large class of self-adjoint operators H whose essential spectrum is determined by their behavior at large x and we give a canonical representation of their essential spectrum in terms of spectra of limits at infinity of translations of H. The configuration space is an arbitrary abelian locally compact not compact group.Comment: 63 pages. This is the published version with several correction

Ectopic Dupuytren's disease in the wrist compressing the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve

A case report to describe the occurrence of Dupuytren's disease in the wrist leading to compression of the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve. A 60-year-old male presented with a lump on the volar aspect of the left wrist with reduced sensation in the thenar eminence. Intra-operatively this was found to be a nodule integrated within the palmaris longus tendon and positioned superficially to the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve. Histological findings were consistent with Dupuytren's disease and the patient's symptoms improved post excision of the nodule. Although Dupuytren's nodules occur rarely in the wrist, they should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis of wrist lumps and they have the potential to impact on nearby neural structures. Keywords: Dupuytren's disease, Wrist, Nerve compression, Palmaris longus, Palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerv

A systematic review and metaethnography to identify how effective, cost-effective, accessible and acceptable self-management support interventions are for men with long-term conditions (SELF-MAN)

Review methods: In the quantitative review, data on relevant outcomes, patient populations, intervention type and study quality were extracted. Quality appraisal was conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effects of interventions in male, female and mixed-sex groups. In the metaethnography, study details, participant quotes (first-order constructs) and study authors’ themes/concepts (second-order constructs) were extracted. Quality appraisal was conducted independently by two reviewers using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool. Data were synthesised according to a metaethnography approach. Third-order interpretations/constructs were derived from the extracted data and integrated to generate a ‘line-of-argument’ synthesis. Results: Forty RCTs of self-management support interventions in male-only samples, and 20 RCTs where an analysis by gender was reported, were included in the quantitative review. Meta-analysis suggested that interventions including physical activity, education and peer support have a positive impact on quality of life in men, and that men may derive more benefit than women from them, but there is currently insufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions. Thirty-eight qualitative studies relevant to men’s experiences of, and perceptions of, self-management support were included in the qualitative review. The metaethnography identified four concepts: (1) need for purpose; (2) trusted environments; (3) value of peers; and (4) becoming an expert. Findings indicated that men may feel less comfortable engaging in support if it is perceived to be incongruous with valued aspects of masculine identities. Men may find support interventions more attractive when they have a clear purpose, are action-oriented and offer practical strategies that can be integrated into daily life. Support delivered in an environment that offers a sense of shared understanding can be particularly appealing to some men. Conclusions: Health professionals and those involved in designing interventions may wish to consider whether or not certain components (e.g. physical activity, education, peer support) are particularly effective in men, although more research is needed to fully determine and explore this. Interventions are most likely to be accessible and acceptable to men when working with, not against, valued aspects of masculine identities

Bioscience learning in clinical placement: The experiences of pre-registration nursing students

Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to explore student nurses' views and experiences of bioscience learning in clinical placement. The study focused on (1) how relevant students perceive bioscience knowledge to their professional role; (2) what opportunities students have to apply bioscience knowledge during clinical placements; (3) what students perceive about the support they receive from placement mentors regarding bioscience learning. Background: Bioscience knowledge is required for safe and effective practice but is an area that students find challenging. Clinical placements offer students the ideal environment to integrate bioscience into clinical decision making. There is, however, a lack of research addressing specifically students' placement learning of bioscience. Design: An explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was adopted. Methods: The research involved two phases. In phase one predominantly quantitative data were collected via a survey. 112 final year BSc nursing students from across fields completed the survey (response rate = 66%). The results of this phase were then built upon by conducting three focus groups (n = 17) in a second qualitative research phase. Results: Whilst students acknowledged the relevance of bioscience to their nursing role, this study suggests that its importance is not recognised as widely by practice educators. Findings highlight inconsistencies in the quality of mentor support, the opportunities for students to learn and the priority that bioscience is given in placement education. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the need for more explicit bioscience criteria in placement assessments and a greater level of mentor education to ensure more consistency in the standard of placement learning of bioscience. Relevance to clinical practice: Providing insight into factors that influence student learning of bioscience during clinical placements provides focus on how higher education institutions and practice educators can better support students to confidently apply bioscience knowledge to deliver safe and effective patient care. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Aspects of noncommutative Lorentzian geometry for globally hyperbolic spacetimes

Connes' functional formula of the Riemannian distance is generalized to the Lorentzian case using the so-called Lorentzian distance, the d'Alembert operator and the causal functions of a globally hyperbolic spacetime. As a step of the presented machinery, a proof of the almost-everywhere smoothness of the Lorentzian distance considered as a function of one of the two arguments is given. Afterwards, using a $C^*$-algebra approach, the spacetime causal structure and the Lorentzian distance are generalized into noncommutative structures giving rise to a Lorentzian version of part of Connes' noncommutative geometry. The generalized noncommutative spacetime consists of a direct set of Hilbert spaces and a related class of $C^*$-algebras of operators. In each algebra a convex cone made of self-adjoint elements is selected which generalizes the class of causal functions. The generalized events, called {\em loci}, are realized as the elements of the inductive limit of the spaces of the algebraic states on the $C^*$-algebras. A partial-ordering relation between pairs of loci generalizes the causal order relation in spacetime. A generalized Lorentz distance of loci is defined by means of a class of densely-defined operators which play the r\^ole of a Lorentzian metric. Specializing back the formalism to the usual globally hyperbolic spacetime, it is found that compactly-supported probability measures give rise to a non-pointwise extension of the concept of events.Comment: 43 pages, structure of the paper changed and presentation strongly improved, references added, minor typos corrected, title changed, accepted for publication in Reviews in Mathematical Physic

Fermion mixing in quasi-free states

Quantum field theoretic treatments of fermion oscillations are typically restricted to calculations in Fock space. In this letter we extend the oscillation formulae to include more general quasi-free states, and also consider the case when the mixing is not unitary.Comment: 10 pages, Plain Te