SPURS : Salinity Processes in the Upper-ocean Regional Study— the North Atlantic Experiment

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 28, no. 1 (2015): 14-19, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2015.01

Electrolytic smelting of lunar rock for oxygen, iron, and silicon

Preliminary studies of the electrochemical properties of silicate melts such as those available from heating of lunar mare soils indicate that conductivities are high enough for design of a practical electrolytic cell. The nature and kinetics of the electrode reactions, which involve reduction of Fe(++) and Si(IV) and oxidation of silicate anions as the primary, product-forming reactions, are also satisfactory. A survey of the efficiencies for production (amount of product for a given current) of O2, Fe(sup 0), and Si(sup 0) as functions of potential and of electrolyte composition indicate that conditions can be chosen to yield high production efficiencies. We also conclude that electronic conductivity does not occur to a significant extent. Based on these data, a cell with electrodes of 30 sq m in area operating between 1 and 5V with a current between 1.6 and 3.5(10)(exp 5) A for a mean power requirement of 0.54 MW and total energy use of approximately 13 MWhr per 24-hr day would produce 1 ton of O2, 0.81 ton of Fe(sup 0), 0.65 ton of Si(sup 0) (as Fe(sup 0)-Si(sup 0) alloy), and about 3.5 tons of silicate melt of altered composition per 24 hr. Adjustable distance between electrodes could offer flexibility with respect to feedstock and power source

Luna 24 regolith breccias: A possible source of the fine size material of the Luna 24 regolith

The regolith breccias from the Luna 24 core were analyzed. The Luna 24 regolith is a mixture of fine and coarse grain materials. The comparable analysis of the grain size distributions, the modal and chemical compositions of the breccias, and the regolith from the same levels show that the friable slightly litificated breccia with a friable fine grain matrix may be a source of fine grain material of the Luna 24 present day regolith

Preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus in Qatar by reducing obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity: mathematical modeling analyses.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of reducing the prevalence of obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity, and introducing physical activity as an explicit intervention, on the burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), using Qatar as an example. METHODS: A population-level mathematical model was adapted and expanded. The model was stratified by sex, age group, risk factor status, T2DM status, and intervention status, and parameterized by nationally representative data. Modeled interventions were introduced in 2016, reached targeted level by 2031, and then maintained up to 2050. Diverse intervention scenarios were assessed and compared with a counter-factual no intervention baseline scenario. RESULTS: T2DM prevalence increased from 16.7% in 2016 to 24.0% in 2050 in the baseline scenario. By 2050, through halting the rise or reducing obesity prevalence by 10-50%, T2DM prevalence was reduced by 7.8-33.7%, incidence by 8.4-38.9%, and related deaths by 2.1-13.2%. For smoking, through halting the rise or reducing smoking prevalence by 10-50%, T2DM prevalence was reduced by 0.5-2.8%, incidence by 0.5-3.2%, and related deaths by 0.1-0.7%. For physical inactivity, through halting the rise or reducing physical inactivity prevalence by 10-50%, T2DM prevalence was reduced by 0.5-6.9%, incidence by 0.5-7.9%, and related deaths by 0.2-2.8%. Introduction of physical activity with varying intensity at 25% coverage reduced T2DM prevalence by 3.3-9.2%, incidence by 4.2-11.5%, and related deaths by 1.9-5.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Major reductions in T2DM incidence could be accomplished by reducing obesity, while modest reductions could be accomplished by reducing smoking and physical inactivity, or by introducing physical activity as an intervention

Fundamental Strings in Open String Theory at the Tachyonic Vacuum

We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides strong evidence for the conjecture that at this vacuum the full (25+1) dimensional Poincare invariance is restored. We also use this result to argue that the open string field theory at the tachyonic vacuum must contain closed string excitations.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 pages, references and clarification adde

Promotion of healthy nutrition in clinical practice: a cross-sectional survey of practices and barriers among physiotherapists in southeast Nigeria

AbstractBackgroundHealthy diet counselling is an important concept in health promotion. Physiotherapists are well positioned to initiate or support healthy nutrition in addition to physical activity counselling, in routine patient consultation.ObjectiveTo determine the practices about and barriers to diet counselling practices among physiotherapists in Southeast Nigeria.MethodsIn this cross-sectional survey, a total of 140 questionnaires were distributed among physiotherapists.ResultsOverall, 103 physiotherapists responded. Physiotherapists are confident and consider the incorporation of dietary counselling very important and of high priority in their daily clinical work. They, however, assessed and counselled on dietary status opportunistically in patients. Notwithstanding, physiotherapists believed that the diet counselling they give could be effective in helping patients change their unhealthy dieting practices. Patients were also amenable to physiotherapists advocating on diet issues as part of their consultation. Several barriers to incorporating diet counselling into physiotherapy practice were identified, including lack of access to a dietician/health promotion staff/counsellors, lack of proper patient education materials, lack of expertise in relation to dietary risk factors' assessment and management, and uncertainty about what dietary services to provide.ConclusionAlthough physiotherapists consider it important to incorporate diet counselling in their daily clinical practice, development and implementation of strategies to improve physiotherapists' diet counselling knowledge, competence, skills, and practice are warranted

The person-centred approach to an ageing society

Modern care is often based on investigations such as laboratory markers and imaging - for example, X-ray or ultrasound. The results contribute to a diagnosis and, if judged necessary, treatment is initiated. This diseased-oriented approach is the prevailing mode of management in modern medicine. In contrast, person-centered care (PCC) takes the point of departure from each person\ub4s subjective experience of illness and its impact on daily life. A patient is considered as a person with emotions and feelings. PCC is considered present within clinical care according to a definition articulated by the Centre for Person Centred Care at the University of Gothenburg (GPCC) when three core components are present: elicitation of a detailed patient narrative; formulated partnership between caregiver and patient and documentation of the partnership in the patient record. Accordingly, when there is an illness requiring care and the person is attended using these components, PCC is being applied. In most situations today, PCC is not applied in terms of the narrative and is not fully elicited or the partnership and/or the documentation are not included. It is proposed that the challenge to Society arising from changing demographics can be addressed by implementing PCC and creating an alternative to existing healthcare. The importance and benefits of such an approach on a wider scale is not yet clear as research has been limited to date. Studies in selected patient populations (heart failure and hip fractures), however, have shown promising results. As the population ages, there will be a dramatic increase in healthcare consumption. Even with technological developments, there will be a need for tremendous resources to be dedicated to care. A new organization and attitude from healthcare policymakers and providers above and beyond the present model appears required in order to respond to this demand. As part of such change, person-centred care, with the interaction between healthcare providers and the person of the patient, can facilitate, compensate and develop more effective healthcare services for the future

Validation of the Finnish Type 2 Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) with the OGTT in Health Care Practices in Europe

Aims: /hypothesis. To determine the best cut-off threshold value of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FIN-DRISC) for the detection of diabetes and non-diabetic hyperglycaemia in people 35 years or older at primary health care settings in Europe. Methods: Cross-sectional study in 11,444 adults from primary health care centres using community and opportunistic screening approaches. All participants completed the FIN-DRISC questionnaire and underwent a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The FIN-DRISC performance was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden acute accent s index, posi-tive and negative prediction values for different FINDRISC cut-offs were calculated. Results: The optimal FINDRISC value for detecting both diabetes or glucose impairment in the community -screened sample was 14 point with the associated AUC 0.75,5 (95 %CI 0.73,7-0.77,3). The optimal score in the opportunistic screening sample was 16 with the associated AUC only 0.60,4 (95% CI 0.56, 4-0.64, 4). Conclusions/interpretation: The FINDRISC is a non-invasive tool useful for detecting people with unknown diabetes and glucose impairment in people visiting primary health centres in Europe. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Dirac-Born-Infeld Action on the Tachyon Kink and Vortex

The tachyon effective field theory describing the dynamics of a non-BPS D-brane in superstring theory has an infinitely thin but finite tension kink solution describing a codimension one BPS D-brane. We study the world-volume theory of massless modes on the kink, and show that the world volume action has precisely the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) form without any higher derivative corrections. We generalize this to a vortex solution in the effective field theory on a brane-antibrane pair. As in the case of the kink, the vortex is infinitely thin, has finite energy density, and the world-volume action on the vortex is again given exactly by the DBI action on a BPS D-brane. We also discuss the coupling of fermions and restoration of supersymmetry and $\kappa$-symmetry on the world-volume of the kink. Absence of higher derivative corrections to the DBI action on the soliton implies that all such corrections are related to higher derivative corrections to the original effective action on the world-volume of a non-BPS D-brane or brane-antibrane pair.Comment: LaTeX file, 34 pages; references and other minor comments adde

Changes over time in the effect of marital status on cancer survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of all-cause and cause-specific mortality are higher among unmarried than married individuals. Cancer survival is also poorer in the unmarried population. Recently, some studies have found that the excess all-cause mortality of the unmarried has increased over time, and the same pattern has been shown for some specific causes of death. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there has been a similar change over time in marital status differences in cancer survival.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Discrete-time hazard regression models for cancer deaths among more than 440 000 women and men diagnosed with cancer 1970-2007 at age 30-89 were estimated, using register data encompassing the entire Norwegian population. More than 200 000 cancer deaths during over 2 million person-years of exposure were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased steadily for men, in particular the elderly. Among elderly women, the excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased, and there are indications of an increasing excess mortality of the widowed. The excess mortality of divorced men and women, however, has been stable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is no obvious explanation for the increasing disadvantage among the never-married. It could be due to a relatively poorer general health at time of diagnosis, either because of a more protective effect of partnership in a society that may have become less cohesive or because of more positive selection into marriage. Alternatively, it could be related to increasing differentials with respect to treatment. Today's complex cancer therapy regimens may be more difficult for never-married to follow, and health care interventions directed and adapted more specifically to the broad subgroup of never-married patients might be warranted.</p