‘Food, fuel and hope’ evaluation of the ‘Bare Essentials’ Project in Rochdale

Bare Essentials (BE) is a partnership project between the BB and CAB and is intended to provide tools and opportunities for people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and to improve the life chances and health outcomes of those living in the private rented sector in Rochdale (Bare Essentials, n.d.).The project focus is the relief of food and fuel poverty by means of maximising income and building the skills and knowledge of users of the service, and in so doing, improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and households.This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the Bare Essentials project on behalf of The Bond Board (BB) and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Rochdale. The evaluation was commissioned part way through the project and was carried out over a three month period between January and March 2015. The report is based largely upon qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the project and on documentary material held by both the BB and the CAB

Lowest Open Channels, Bound States, and Narrow Resonances of Dipositronium

The constraints imposed by symmetry on the open channels of dipositronium has been studied, and the symmetry-adapted lowest open channel of each quantum state has been identified. Based on this study, the existence of two more 0^+ bound states has been theoretically confirmed, and a 0^+ narrow resonance has been predicted. A variational calculation has been performed to evaluate the critical strength of the repulsive interaction . Two 0^- states are found to have their critical strengths very close to 1, they are considered as candidates of new narrow resonances or loosely bound states .Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure

Second bound state of the positronium molecule and biexcitons

A new, hitherto unknown bound state of the positronium molecule, with orbital angular momentum L=1 and negative parity is reported. This state is stable against autodissociation even if the masses of the positive and negative charges are not equal. The existence of a similar state in two-dimension has also been investigated. The fact that the biexcitons have a second bound state may help the better understanding of their binding mechanism.Comment: Latex, 8 pages, 2 Postscript figure

Analytic Evaluation of Four-Particle Integrals with Complex Parameters

The method for analytic evaluation of four-particle integrals, proposed by Fromm and Hill, is generalized to include complex exponential parameters. An original procedure of numerical branch tracking for multiple valued functions is developed. It allows high precision variational solution of the Coulomb four-body problem in a basis of exponential-trigonometric functions of interparticle separations. Numerical results demonstrate high efficiency and versatility of the new method.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

'The ICECAP-SCM tells you more about what I'm going through: a think-aloud study measuring quality of life among patients receiving supportive and palliative care

Background: The ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure is a self-complete questionnaire developed to aid economic evaluation of supportive care interventions.Aim: To determine the feasibility of completing ICECAP–Supportive Care Measure alongside EQ-5D-5L and ICECAP-A (generic measures used in economic evaluation) among patients receiving hospice care, close persons and healthcare professionals.Design: Participants were asked to ‘think aloud’ while completing ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure and two other generic measures used in economic evaluation, EQ-5D-5L and ICECAP-A, and then participate in a semi-structured interview. From verbatim transcripts, five raters identified the frequency of errors in comprehension, retrieval, judgement and response. Qualitative data were analysed using constant comparison.Setting/participants: Eligible patients were identified from one UK hospice by a research nurse. Close persons and healthcare professionals were identified by the patient. In all, 72 semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients (n?=?33), close persons (n?=?22) and healthcare professionals (n?=?17).Results: Patients and close persons reported that the ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure was most appropriate for measuring their quality of life. It appeared more meaningful, easier to complete and had fewest errors (3.9% among patients, 4.5% among close persons) compared to EQ-5D-5L (9.7% among patients, 5.5% among close persons). Healthcare professionals acknowledged the value of the ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure but had fewer errors in completing the EQ-5D-5L (3.5% versus 6.7%). They found it easier to complete because it focuses on observable health states.Conclusions: The ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure is feasible to use and perceived as appropriate for evaluating palliative care interventions. Healthcare professionals with limited knowledge of the patient who act as proxy completers may find the measure difficult to complete

Practical genetics: alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and the serpinopathies

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (alpha(1)-antitrypsin) is the archetypal member of the serine proteinase inhibitor or serpin superfamily. The most common severe deficiency variant is the Z allele, which results in the accumulation of mutant protein within hepatocytes. This 'protein overload' causes neonatal hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The lack of circulating plasma alpha(1)-antitrypsin results in early-onset panlobular emphysema. The mechanism underlying the deficiency of Z alpha(1)-antitrypsin is due to an aberrant conformational transition within the protein and the formation of chains of polymers that tangle within the secretory pathway of hepatocytes. This mechanism also underlies the plasma deficiency of other members of the serpin superfamily to cause a class of diseases called the serpinopathies. Specifically mutant alleles of antithrombin, C1-inhibitor and alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin have been reported that favour the spontaneous formation of polymers and the retention of protein within hepatocytes. The consequent lack of plasma antithrombin, C1-inhibitor and alpha(1)-antichymotrypsin results in thrombosis, angio-oedema and emphysema, respectively. Moreover, the polymerisation of mutants of neuroserpin results in the retention of polymers within neurones to cause the inclusion body dementia, familial encephalopathy with neuroserpin inclusion bodies or FENIB. We review here the genetic and molecular basis and clinical features of alpha(1)-antitrypsin deficiency, and show how this provides a platform to understand the other serpinopathies

The impact of genital warts: loss of quality of life and cost of treatment in eight sexual health clinics in the UK

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the loss of quality of life and cost of treatment associated with genital warts seen in sexual health clinics. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire study and case note review of individuals with genital warts, carried out in eight sexual health clinics in England and Northern Ireland. Individuals with genital warts attending the participating clinics were invited to take part in the questionnaire study. 895 participants were recruited. A separate sample of 370 participants who had attended a participating clinic with a first visit for a first or recurrent episode of genital warts between April and June 2007 was included in the case note review. Quality of life was measured using the EQ-5D questionnaire and the cost of an episode of care was derived from the case note review. RESULTS: The weighted mean EQ-5D index score was 0.87 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.89). The weighted mean disutility was 0.056 (95% CI 0.038 to 0.074). The estimated mean loss of quality-adjusted life-years associated with an episode of genital warts was 0.018 (95% CI 0.0079 to 0.031), equivalent to 6.6 days of healthy life lost per episode. The weighted mean cost per episode of care was £94 (95% CI £84 to £104), not including the cost of a sexually transmitted infection screen. CONCLUSIONS: Genital warts have a substantial impact on the health service and the individual. This information can be utilised for economic evaluation of human papillomavirus vaccination

Multipositronic systems

The stability of Coulombic systems containing positrons are investigated by the stochastic variational method. The existence of several new exotic atoms are predicted, including HPse+, LiPs2e+, or (H-,Ps2). Similar systems (replacing the positrons by holes) might be observed in semiconductors.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., in pres