220 research outputs found
Measuring perceived quality of life to assess health needs among people with MS: a community study in Derbyshire, UK
Background: To determine the health needs of people with multiple sclerosis living in the Southern Derbyshire region of the UK, using a quality of life postal questionnaire. Methods: This was a population-based survey using a postal questionnaire comprising the 54-item Multiple Sclerosis Qual-ity of life questionnaire (MSQOL-54), Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and some additional demo-graphic questions. A postal questionnaire was sent via 40 health practices (50% of general practitioners) in Southern Derby-shire to all patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis confirmed by a neurologist."Results: Two hundred and one completed questionnaires (from 223 respondents) were returned using pre-paid postage. Respondents were divided into those with mild (41%), moderate (36%) and severe (23%) disability on the basis of their ADL scores. Seventy seven percent (155) of respondents were women. The POQL mean scores for three groups of mild, moderate and severe disability were 12.0±2.8, 9.5±3.0, and 8.0±3.5 (out of 17), respectively. The regression model showed a relationship between disability scores and POQL scores (Beta=0.58, P= 0.000). Conclusion: For the three groups of disabled people, different priorities emerged in relation to POQL, indicating that ser-vices seeking to improve quality of life in these groups must identify and target the relevant issues appropriately and be sensi-tive to the differing requirements reported by individuals at different levels of disability. Studies of this type are becom-ing increasingly important for determining which outcomes should be measured when evaluating interventions de-signed to maintain well-being and protect the health of patients with MS
Measuring perceived quality of life to assess health needs among people with MS: a community study in Derbyshire, UK
Background: To determine the health needs of people with multiple sclerosis living in the Southern Derbyshire region of the UK, using a quality of life postal questionnaire. Methods: This was a population-based survey using a postal questionnaire comprising the 54-item Multiple Sclerosis Qual-ity of life questionnaire (MSQOL-54), Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and some additional demo-graphic questions. A postal questionnaire was sent via 40 health practices (50% of general practitioners) in Southern Derby-shire to all patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis confirmed by a neurologist."Results: Two hundred and one completed questionnaires (from 223 respondents) were returned using pre-paid postage. Respondents were divided into those with mild (41%), moderate (36%) and severe (23%) disability on the basis of their ADL scores. Seventy seven percent (155) of respondents were women. The POQL mean scores for three groups of mild, moderate and severe disability were 12.0±2.8, 9.5±3.0, and 8.0±3.5 (out of 17), respectively. The regression model showed a relationship between disability scores and POQL scores (Beta=0.58, P= 0.000). Conclusion: For the three groups of disabled people, different priorities emerged in relation to POQL, indicating that ser-vices seeking to improve quality of life in these groups must identify and target the relevant issues appropriately and be sensi-tive to the differing requirements reported by individuals at different levels of disability. Studies of this type are becom-ing increasingly important for determining which outcomes should be measured when evaluating interventions de-signed to maintain well-being and protect the health of patients with MS
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A tillering inhibition gene influences root-shoot carbon partitioning and pattern of water use to improve wheat productivity in rainfed environments
Genetic modification of shoot and root morphology has potential to improve water and nutrient
19 uptake of wheat crops in rainfed environments. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) varying for a tillering
20 inhibition (tin) gene and representing multiple genetic backgrounds were investigated in contrasting
21 controlled environments for shoot and root growth. Leaf area, shoot and root biomass were similar
22 until tillering whereupon reduced tillering in tin-containing NILs produced reductions of up to 60% in
23 total leaf area and biomass, and increases in total root length of up to 120% and root biomass to
24 145%. Together, root-to-shoot ratio increased two-fold with the tin gene. The influence of tin on shoot
25 and root growth was greatest in the cv. Banks genetic background, particularly in the biculm-selected
26 NIL, and was typically strongest in cooler environments. A separate de-tillering study confirmed
27 greater root-to-shoot ratios with regular tiller removal in non-tin containing genotypes. In validating
28 these observations in a rainfed field study, the tin allele had a negligible effect on seedling growth but
29 was associated with significantly (P<0.05) reduced tiller number (-37%), leaf area index (-26%) and
30 spike number (-35%) to reduce plant biomass (-19%) at anthesis. Root biomass, root-to-shoot ratio at
31 early stem elongation and root depth at maturity were increased in tin-containing NILs. Soil water use
32 was slowed in tin-containing NILs resulting in greater water availability, greater stomatal
33 conductance, cooler canopy temperatures and maintenance of green leaf area during grain-filling.
34 Together these effects contributed to increases in harvest index and grain yield. In both the controlled
35 and field environments, the tin gene was commonly associated with increased root length and biomass
36 but the significant influence of genetic background and environment suggests careful assessment of
37 tin-containing progeny in selection for genotypic increases in root growth
Resistance is futile: RNA-sequencing reveals differing responses to bat fungal pathogen in Nearctic Myotis lucifugus and Palearctic Myotis myotis
Improving water productivity in the Australian Grains industry—a nationally coordinated approach
Improving the water-limited yield of dryland crops and farming systems has been an underpinning objective of research within the Australian grains industry since the concept was defined in the 1970s. Recent slowing in productivity growth has stimulated a search for new sources of improvement, but few previous research investments have been targeted on a national scale. In 2008, the Australian grains industry established the 5-year, AU$17.6 million, Water Use Efficiency (WUE) Initiative, which challenged growers and researchers to lift WUE of grain-based production systems by 10%. Sixteen regional grower research teams distributed across southern Australia (300–700 mm annual rainfall) proposed a range of agronomic management strategies to improve water-limited productivity. A coordinating project involving a team of agronomists, plant physiologists, soil scientists and system modellers was funded to provide consistent understanding and benchmarking of water-limited yield, experimental advice and assistance, integrating system science and modelling, and to play an integration and communication role. The 16 diverse regional project activities were organised into four themes related to the type of innovation pursued (integrating break-crops, managing summer fallows, managing in-season water-use, managing variable and constraining soils), and the important interactions between these at the farm-scale were explored and emphasised. At annual meetings, the teams compared the impacts of various management strategies across different regions, and the interactions from management combinations. Simulation studies provided predictions of both a priori outcomes that were tested experimentally and extrapolation of results across sites, seasons and up to the whole-farm scale. We demonstrated experimentally that potential exists to improve water productivity at paddock scale by levels well above the 10% target by better summer weed control (37–140%), inclusion of break crops (16–83%), earlier sowing of appropriate varieties (21–33%) and matching N supply to soil type (91% on deep sands). Capturing synergies from combinations of pre- and in-crop management could increase wheat yield at farm scale by 11–47%, and significant on-farm validation and adoption of some innovations has occurred during the Initiative. An ex post economic analysis of the Initiative estimated a benefit : cost ratio of 3.7 : 1, and an internal return on investment of 18.5%. We briefly review the structure and operation of the initiative and summarise some of the key strategies that emerged to improve WUE at paddock and farm-scale
First-order cosmological phase transitions in the radiation dominated era
We consider first-order phase transitions of the Universe in the
radiation-dominated era. We argue that in general the velocity of interfaces is
non-relativistic due to the interaction with the plasma and the release of
latent heat. We study the general evolution of such slow phase transitions,
which comprise essentially a short reheating stage and a longer phase
equilibrium stage. We perform a completely analytical description of both
stages. Some rough approximations are needed for the first stage, due to the
non-trivial relations between the quantities that determine the variation of
temperature with time. The second stage, instead, is considerably simplified by
the fact that it develops at a constant temperature, close to the critical one.
Indeed, in this case the equations can be solved exactly, including
back-reaction on the expansion of the Universe. This treatment also applies to
phase transitions mediated by impurities. We also investigate the relations
between the different parameters that govern the characteristics of the phase
transition and its cosmological consequences, and discuss the dependence of
these parameters with the particle content of the theory.Comment: 38 pages, 3 figures; v2: Minor changes, references added; v3: several
typos correcte
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS
The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS
detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4
fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to
Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks
corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new
structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is
also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes.
This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table,
corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter
Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS
We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a
significant distance from their production point into a final state containing
charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is
conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV
and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS
detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles
is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We
observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of
supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the
neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino
masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version to appear in Physics Letters
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