370 research outputs found
Hiv/Aids prevalence at the accident & emergency centre of a tertiary and referral health institution in Ghana
Background: Ghana has an estimated HIV prevalence of 1.4%, but the HIV prevalence of patients presenting at emergency departments in Ghana is not well documented in published literature. This study evaluated the prevalence of HIV infection at the Accident & Emergency Department, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH A&E), Kumasi, Ghana.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out on patients aged 18 and above presenting to KATH A&E. An opt-in testing approach was used; consenting patients were screened for HIV using rapid HIV finger-stick testing with HIV 1-2 STAT-PAK. Sero-positivity was confirmed by OraQuick HIV 1-2 test. Data was analysed using multivariate logistic regression.Results: 1125 patients presenting at the KATH A&E during the study period were offered the Rapid HIV test. 667 of these patients consented to have the test. HIV prevalence was 13.5% (90/667). 53 females (58.9%) were HIV positive compared to 37 males (41.1%). The age group 30-50 years had the highest risk of being HIV-positive. Other socio-demographic variables such as educational level and occupation were significantly associated with HIV-infection (Pvalue = 0.001 at 95% CI).Conclusion: This study shows that emergency department HIV testing in Ghana is feasible. The prevalence of HIV sero-positive patients presenting at KATH A&E was tenfold higher than national estimates. We conclude that this study showed a high prevalence among patients seeking emergency care in our setting. Testing in the emergency department could lead to early detection of HIV-infected patients for linkage to care.Keywords: HIV Infections; HIV Screening; Prevalence, Diagnosis, Emergency Departmen
Spectroscopy of the transition-rate matrix for molecular junctions: dynamics in the Franck-Condon regime
The quantum master equation applied to electronic transport through
nanoscopic devices provides information not only on the stationary state but
also on the dynamics. The dynamics is characterized by the eigenvalues of the
transition-rate matrix, or generator, of the master equation. We propose to use
the spectrum of these eigenvalues as a tool for the study of nanoscopic
transport. We illustrate this idea by analyzing a molecular quantum dot with an
electronic orbital coupled to a vibrational mode, which shows the Franck-Condon
blockade if the coupling is strong. Our approach provides complementary
information compared to the study of observables in the stationary state.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
The Heartbleed bug : insecurity repackaged, rebranded and resold
The emergence of a post-industrial information economy shaped by and around networked communication technology has presented new opportunities for identity theft. In particular, the accidental leakage or deliberate harvesting of information, via either hacking or social engineering, is an omnipresent threat to a large number of commercial organisations and state agencies who manage digital databases and sociotechnical forms of data. Throughout the twenty-first century the global media have reported on a series of data breaches fuelling amongst the public an anxiety concerning the safety and security of their personal and financial data. With concern outpacing reliable information a reassurance gap has emerged between the public's expectations and the state's ability to provide safety and security online. This disparity presents a significant opportunity for a commercial computer crime control industry who has sought to position itself as being able to offer consumer citizens the antidotes for such ills. This paper considers how neoliberal discourses of cybercrime control are packaged, branded and sold, through an examination of the social construction of the Heartbleed bug. It demonstrates how security company Codenomicon masterfully communicated the vulnerability, the product of a simple coding error, through its name, a logo and an accompanying website, in turn, shaping news coverage across the mainstream media and beyond
Towards a Criminology of the Domestic
Criminology has paid insufficient attention to the ‘domestic’ arena, as a locale that is being reconfigured through technological and social developments in ways that require us to reconsider offending and victimisation. This article addresses this lacuna. We take up Campbell's (2016) challenge that criminology needs to develop more sophisticated models of place and space, particularly in relation to changing patterns of consumption and leisure activity and the opportunities to offend in relation to these from within the domestic arena
Information-bit error rate and false positives in an MDS code
In this paper, a refinement of the weight distribution in an MDS code is
computed. Concretely, the number of codewords with a fixed amount of nonzero
bits in both information and redundancy parts is obtained. This refinement
improves the theoretical approximation of the information-bit and -symbol error
rate, in terms of the channel bit-error rate, in a block transmission through a
discrete memoryless channel. Since a bounded distance reproducing encoder is
assumed, the computation of the here-called false positive (a decoding failure
with no information-symbol error) is provided. As a consequence, a new
performance analysis of an MDS code is proposed
Crime, media and the will-to-representation: Reconsidering relationships in the new media age
This paper considers the ways in which the rise of new media might challenge commonplace criminological assumptions about the crime–media interface. Established debates around crime and media have long been based upon a fairly clear demarcation between production and consumption, between object and audience – the media generates and transmits representations of crime, and audiences engage with them. However, one of the most noticeable changes occurring in the wake of the development of new media is the proliferation of self-organised production by ‘ordinary people’ – everything ranging from self-authored web pages and ‘blogs’, to self-produced video created using hand-held camcorders, camera-phones and ‘webcams’. Today we see the spectacle of people them, send them and upload them to the Internet. This kind of ‘will to representation’ may be seen in itself as a new kind of causal inducement to law- and rule-breaking behaviour. It may be that, in the new media age, the terms of criminological questioning need to be sometimes reversed: instead of asking whether ‘media’ instigates crime or fear of crime, we must ask how the very possibility of bound up with the genesis of criminal behaviour.performing acts of crime and deviance in order to recordmediating oneself to an audience through self-representation might be bound up with the genesis of criminal behaviour
A Sino-German 6\ cm polarization survey of the Galactic plane. V. Large supernova remnants
Observations of large supernova remnants (SNRs) at high frequencies are rare,
but provide valuable information about their physical properties. The total
intensity and polarization properties of 16 large SNRs in the Galactic plane
were investigated based on observations of the Urumqi 6\ cm
polarization survey of the Galactic plane with an angular resolution of
9\farcm5. We extracted total intensity and linear polarization maps of large
SNRs from the Urumqi 6\ cm survey, obtained their integrated flux
densities, and derived the radio spectra in context with previously published
flux densities at various frequencies. In particular, Effelsberg 11\
cm and 21\ cm survey data were used for calculating integrated flux
densities. The 6\ cm polarization data also delineate the magnetic
field structures of the SNRs. We present the first total intensity maps at
6\ cm for SNRs G106.3+2.7, G114.3+0.3, G116.5+1.1, G166.0+4.3 (VRO
42.05.01), G205.5+0.5 (Monoceros Nebula) and G206.9+2.3 (PKS 0646+06) and the
first polarization measurements at 6\ cm for SNRs G82.2+5.3 (W63),
G106.3+2.7, G114.3+0.3, G116.5+1.1, G166.0+4.3 (VRO 42.05.01), G205.5+0.5
(Monoceros Nebula) and G206.9+2.3 (PKS 0646+06). Most of the newly derived
integrated radio spectra are consistent with previous results. The new flux
densities obtained from the Urumqi 6\ cm, Effelsberg 11\ cm
and 21\ cm surveys are crucial to determine the spectra of SNR
G65.1+0.6, G69.0+2.7 (CTB 80), G93.7-0.2 and G114.3+0.3. We find that
G192.81.1 (PKS 0607+17) consists of background sources, \ion{H}{II} regions
and the extended diffuse emission of thermal nature, and conclude that
G192.81.1 is not a SNR.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A&\amp;A. Language improved. For
the version with high resolution figures, please go to:
http://zmtt.bao.ac.cn/6cm/paper/gxy_largeSNR.pd
Breaking bad, making good: notes on a televisual tourist industry
This article explores emerging intersections between the consumption of mediated popular culture and the real and imagined topographies within which those representations are framed. Through an examination of the ‘televisual tourism’ centred around the successful TV series Breaking Bad, we scrutinise the multiple modes of sensorial and embodied travel experience enjoyed by fans of the show as they consume their way around the show’s sites, scenes, and tastes in the city of Albuquerque . This exploitation of media textuality through fan tourism is, we suggest, centred upon a carefully managed commodification of crime, criminality and transgression
Health care professionals' views on discussing sexual wellbeing with patients who have had a stroke: A qualitative study
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the experiences of health care professionals discussing sexual wellbeing with patients who have had a stroke.
DESIGN:
In-depth qualitative interview study with purposive sampling and thematic analysis.
PARTICIPANTS:
30 health care professionals purposively recruited to include different roles and settings along the stroke patient pathway in secondary and primary care.
SETTING:
Two hospitals and three general practices in the West Midlands, UK.
RESULTS:
Sexual wellbeing was a topic that participants did not raise with patients and was infrequently raised by patients. Barriers to raising discussion were on four levels: structural, health care professional, patient, and professional-patient interface. Barriers within these levels included: sexual wellbeing not present within hospital stroke policy; the perception that sexual wellbeing was not within participants' role; participants' concern that raising the issue could cause harm to the patient; and the views that discussion would be inappropriate with older people or unimportant to women. Resources exist to aid discussion but many participants were unaware of them, and most of those that were, did not use them routinely.
CONCLUSIONS:
Participants lacked motivation, ownership, and the confidence and skills to raise sexual wellbeing routinely after stroke. Similar findings have been reported in cancer care and other taboo subjects such as incontinence potentially resulting in a sub-optimal experience for patients. Normalisation of the inclusion of sensitive topics in discussions post-stroke does not seem to need significant structural intervention and simple changes such as information provision and legitimisation through consideration of the issue in standard care policies may be all that is required. The experiences recounted by professionals in this study suggest that such changes are needed now
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