Survey of the needs of patients with spinal cord injury: impact and priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics\ud

Objective: To investigate the impact of upper extremity deficit in subjects with tetraplegia.\ud \ud Setting: The United Kingdom and The Netherlands.\ud \ud Study design: Survey among the members of the Dutch and UK Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Associations.\ud \ud Main outcome parameter: Indication of expected improvement in quality of life (QOL) on a 5-point scale in relation to improvement in hand function and seven other SCI-related impairments.\ud \ud Results: In all, 565 subjects with tetraplegia returned the questionnaire (overall response of 42%). Results in the Dutch and the UK group were comparable. A total of 77% of the tetraplegics expected an important or very important improvement in QOL if their hand function improved. This is comparable to their expectations with regard to improvement in bladder and bowel function. All other items were scored lower.\ud \ud Conclusion: This is the first study in which the impact of upper extremity impairment has been assessed in a large sample of tetraplegic subjects and compared to other SCI-related impairments that have a major impact on the life of subjects with SCI. The present study indicates a high impact as well as a high priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics.\ud \u

AA--Dependence of ΛΛ\Lambda\Lambda Bond Energies in Double---Λ\Lambda Hypernuclei

The $A$-dependence of the bond energy $\Delta B_{\Lambda\Lambda}$ of the ${\Lambda\Lambda}$ hypernuclear ground states is calculated in a three-body ${\Lambda + \Lambda + {^{A}Z}}$ model and in the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach. Various ${\Lambda\Lambda}$ and $\Lambda$-nucleus or ${\Lambda N}$ potentials are used and the sensitivity of $\Delta B_{\Lambda\Lambda}$ to the interactions is discussed. It is shown that in medium and heavy ${\Lambda\Lambda}$ hypernuclei, $\Delta B_{\Lambda\Lambda}$ is a linear function of $r_{\Lambda}^{-3}$, where $r_\Lambda$ is rms radius of the hyperon orbital. It looks unlikely that it will be possible to extract ${\Lambda\Lambda}$ interaction from the double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclear energies only, the additional information about the $\Lambda$-core interaction, in particular, on $r_{\Lambda}$ is needed.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, 3 figure

Foot pain and foot health in an educated population of adults: results from the Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni Foot Health Survey

Abstract Background Foot pain is common amongst the general population and impacts negatively on physical function and quality of life. Associations between personal health characteristics, lifestyle/behaviour factors and foot pain have been studied; however, the role of wider determinants of health on foot pain have received relatively little attention. Objectives of this study are i) to describe foot pain and foot health characteristics in an educated population of adults; ii) to explore associations between moderate-to-severe foot pain and a variety of factors including gender, age, medical conditions/co-morbidity/multi-morbidity, key indicators of general health, foot pathologies, and social determinants of health; and iii) to evaluate associations between moderate-to-severe foot pain and foot function, foot health and health-related quality-of-life. Methods Between February and March 2018, Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni with a working email address were invited to participate in the cross-sectional electronic survey (anonymously) by email via the Glasgow Caledonian University Alumni Office. The survey was constructed using the REDCap secure web online survey application and sought information on presence/absence of moderate-to-severe foot pain, patient characteristics (age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, occupation class, comorbidities, and foot pathologies). Prevalence data were expressed as absolute frequencies and percentages. Multivariate logistic and linear regressions were undertaken to identify associations 1) between independent variables and moderate-to-severe foot pain, and 2) between moderate-to-severe foot pain and foot function, foot health and health-related quality of life. Results Of 50,228 invitations distributed, there were 7707 unique views and 593 valid completions (median age [inter-quartile range] 42 [31–52], 67.3% female) of the survey (7.7% response rate). The sample was comprised predominantly of white Scottish/British (89.4%) working age adults (95%), the majority of whom were overweight or obese (57.9%), and in either full-time or part-time employment (82.5%) as professionals (72.5%). Over two-thirds (68.5%) of the sample were classified in the highest 6 deciles (most affluent) of social deprivation. Moderate-to-severe foot pain affected 236/593 respondents (39.8%). High body mass index, presence of bunions, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, hip pain and lower occupation class were included in the final multivariate model and all were significantly and independently associated with moderate-to-severe foot pain (p < 0.05), except for rheumatoid arthritis (p = 0.057). Moderate-to-severe foot pain was significantly and independently associated lower foot function, foot health and health-related quality of life scores following adjustment for age, gender and body mass index (p < 0.05). Conclusions Moderate-to-severe foot pain was highly prevalent in a university-educated population and was independently associated with female gender, high body mass index, bunions, back pain, hip pain and lower occupational class. Presence of moderate-to-severe foot pain was associated with worse scores for foot function, foot health and health-related quality-of-life. Education attainment does not appear to be protective against moderate-to-severe foot pain

Framing REDD+ in the Brazilian national media: how discourses evolved amid global negotiation uncertainties

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) in tropical countries is an important and contested element of the post-Kyoto climate regime. For policy options which generate controversy between diverse actor groups, such as REDD+, mass media plays an important role in defining and supporting policy possibilities. Analysis of the way in which national media frames issues of climate change and deforestation can offer insights into the nature of the contested domains of the REDD+ policy process. Here, we examine the Brazilian national media discourses surrounding REDD+ because it contributes to setting the tone of policy debates at the federal level. Specifically, we ask the following: (i) How was REDD+ portrayed in the Brazilian national print media and whose opinions and perceptions were represented? and (ii) How have media frames on REDD+ in the national print media changed over time? Our results contribute with new knowledge for understanding the observed progress of REDD+ in Brazil. We identify two main themes that dominate the focus in the national media coverage of REDD+, specifically “politics and policymaking” (representing half the coverage) and “economics and market” (with over a third). Results show that discussions around carbon markets were amongst the most contested and that optimism in relation to REDD+ effectiveness declined over time. The analysis suggests that positions adopted on the national REDD+ strategy were shaped by state and federal collision of interests. We demonstrate an evolution of national concerns from an initial focus on efficiency (e.g. finance and carbon markets) to a recentred focus on equity issues (e.g. implementation of safeguards). We conclude with some thoughts on the implications of these features for REDD+ interventions and implementation in Brazil

Sociological stalking? Methods, ethics and power in longitudinal criminological research

Scholarship on criminal careers and desistance from crime employing longitudinal methodologies has paid scant attention to sociological and anthropological debates regarding epistemology, reflexivity and researcher positionality. This is surprising in light of a recent phenomenological turn in desistance research wherein (former) lawbreakers’ identity, reflexivity, and self-understanding have become central preoccupations. In this article I interrogate aspects of the methodological ‘underside’ (Gelsthorpe, 2007) of qualitative longitudinal research with criminalised women through an examination of the surveillant position of the researcher. Focusing on methods, ethics and power, I examine some contradictions of feminist concerns to ‘give women voice’ in research involving re-tracing an over-surveilled and highly stigmatised population. I reflect on the effects of researcher positionality through a conceptualisation of re-tracing methods as, at worst, a form of sociological stalking

Wacker-oxidation of Ethylene over Pillared Layered Material Catalysts

This paper concerns the Wacker oxidation of ethylene by oxygen in the presence of water over supported Pd/VOx catalysts. High surface area porous supports were obtained from layer-structured materials, such as, montmorillonite (MT), laponite (LT) (smectites), and hydrotalcite (layered double hydroxide, LDH) by pillaring. Before introduction of Pd, supports MT and LDH were pillared by vanadia. The laponite was used in titania-pillared form (TiO2-LAP) as support of Pd/VOx active component. Acetaldehyde (AcH), acetic acid (AcOH) and CO2 were the products with yields and selectivities, depending on the reaction conditions and the properties of the applied catalyst. Under comparable conditions the pillared smectite catalysts gave higher AcH yield than the pillared LDH catalyst. UV vis spectroscopic examination suggested that the pillared smectites contained polymeric chains of VO4, whereas only isolated monomeric VO4 species were present in the pillared LDH. The higher catalytic activity in the Wacker oxidation was attributed to the more favorable redox property of the polymeric than of the monomeric vanadia. The V3+ ions in the polymeric species can reduce O2 to O2- ions, whereas the obtained V5+ ions are ready to pass over O to Pd0 to generate PdO whereon the oxidation of the ethylene proceeds

Second Generation Leptoquark Search in p\bar{p} Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

We report on a search for second generation leptoquarks with the D\O\ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ collider at $\sqrt{s}$ = 1.8 TeV. This search is based on 12.7 pb$^{-1}$ of data. Second generation leptoquarks are assumed to be produced in pairs and to decay into a muon and quark with branching ratio $\beta$ or to neutrino and quark with branching ratio $(1-\beta)$. We obtain cross section times branching ratio limits as a function of leptoquark mass and set a lower limit on the leptoquark mass of 111 GeV/c$^{2}$ for $\beta = 1$ and 89 GeV/c$^{2}$ for $\beta = 0.5$ at the 95%\ confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, FERMILAB-PUB-95/185-

Jet Production via Strongly-Interacting Color-Singlet Exchange in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions

A study of the particle multiplicity between jets with large rapidity separation has been performed using the D{\O}detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ Collider operating at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$ TeV. A significant excess of low-multiplicity events is observed above the expectation for color-exchange processes. The measured fractional excess is $1.07 \pm 0.10({\rm stat})^{+ 0.25}_{- 0.13}({\rm syst})$, which is consistent with a strongly-interacting color-singlet (colorless) exchange process and cannot be explained by electroweak exchange alone. A lower limit of 0.80% (95% C.L.) is obtained on the fraction of dijet events with color-singlet exchange, independent of the rapidity gap survival probability.Comment: 15 pages (REVTeX), 3 PS figs (uuencoded/tar compressed, epsf.sty) Complete postscript available at http://d0sgi0.fnal.gov/d0pubs/journals.html Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review