Diageo plc – a safe haven in turbulent markets

Equity research report on Diageo PLC, the worldwide industry leader in the alcoholic spirits’ market. The report includes a comprehensive overview of the alcoholic beverage market. Featured in detail are the market trends, opportunities, challenges and the competitive landscape. This section of the joint report aims to provide an understanding of Diageo as a business and their role in the globalized beverage market. Diageo produce, distribute and market industry leading spirits and beers to over 140 countries. The groups alcoholic staples are consistent segment leaders such as the world’s best-selling scotch, vodka, and stout. Diageo’s full control over all aspects of their business allow the group to be in a favourable position to outperform the market and their competitors during these turbulent financial and macroeconomic conditions in 2023 and beyond

Mechanisms of personality-targeted intervention effects on adolescent alcohol misuse, internalising and externalising symptoms

Objective: This study aims to explore the mechanisms of personality-targeted intervention effects on problematic drinking, internalising and externalising symptoms. Method: As part of a cluster-randomised trial, 1210 high-risk students (mean age 13.7 years) in 19 London high schools (42.6% white, 54% male) were identified using the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale. Intervention school participants were invited to participate in personality-matched interventions by trained school staff. MacKinnon’s products of coefficients method was used to compare three complementary mechanism hypotheses, namely, whether early changes in i) alcohol use, ii) internalising and externalising symptoms or iii) personality during the 6 months post-intervention accounted for intervention effects over 2 years. Results: Early intervention effects on drinking behaviours during the 6 months postintervention partially accounted for longer term intervention effects on the onset of binge drinking (95% CI -.349 to -.062) and drinking problems (95% CI -.206 to -.016) over 2 years. Intervention effects on anxiety symptoms and conduct problems were partially mediated by early reductions in depressive symptoms (95% CI -.013 to -.001; 95% CI - .047 to -.001), and intervention effects on internalising symptoms were also partially mediated by reductions in anxiety sensitivity (95% CI -.003 to 0). Conclusions: 2 year intervention effects on problematic drinking were largely accounted for by early changes in drinking behaviours, and were not mediated by changes in mental health symptoms or personality risk factors. Early improvements in mood and anxiety sensitivity partially mediated longer term reductions in mental health problems

Model Compounds of Ruthenium−Alkene Intermediates in Olefin Metathesis Reactions

The development of a model system to study ruthenium−olefin complexes relevant to the mechanism of olefin metathesis is reported. Upon addition of 1,2-divinylbenzene to (H_2IMes)(py_2)(Cl)_2Ru CHPh (H_2IMes = 1,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene), two ruthenium−olefin adducts are formed. On the basis of ^1H NMR spectroscopy experiments and X-ray crystallographic analysis, these complexes are assigned as side-bound isomers in which the olefin and H_2IMes ligands are coordinated cis to each other. The dynamic interconversion of these two ruthenium complexes was determined to have a barrier of 19.1 ± 0.1 kcal/mol

Wireless Accelerometers for Early Detection of Restenosis

AbstractThe goal of this paper is to use accelerometers as an early detection of restenosis. Restenosis (re-narrowing of the blood vessel) typically occurs within 3-6 months after the implantation of a stent. Finite element modelling of an occluded blood vessel showed that eddies along with an increase in velocity occur around the occlusion. In this paper a wireless accelerometer device was used to detect an occlusion. A human phantom model was used to mimic the wireless transmission capabilities of the system through human muscle ex-vivo. Fast Fourier transform results from the accelerometer showed that a non-occluded blood vessel had significant peaks >15Hz, whereas an occluded blood vessel had peaks <15Hz, which provides a signature template for detecting restenosis. The results of the FEM and human phantom experiments show that an accelerometer sensor is capable of detecting restenosis

Efficacy and safety of simeprevir and sofosbuvir with and without ribavirin in subjects with recurrent genotype 1 hepatitis C postorthotopic liver transplant: the randomized GALAXY study

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136282/1/tri12896.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136282/2/tri12896_am.pd

Task force on immigration and higher education in Central Massachusetts

In August 2007, the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. created a task force to examine the issue of immigration and higher education in Central Massachusetts. It has become increasingly clear from recent demographic and economic studies and projections that the population in the northeast, and certainly in Central Massachusetts, is showing minimal growth. There is evidence that a decline in the “native-born” population is caused by significant out-migration due to a number of factors, including the high cost of living, limited career opportunities and a declining birth rate. The limited population growth that is evident is due primarily to the recent influx of immigrants to this area, with the most significant numbers in Worcester coming from Ghana, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, El Salvador, Albania and Liberia. It is also clear that the area’s economy is becoming more knowledge-based with an increasing percentage of all new jobs requiring some form of postsecondary education. According to the 2007 Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development’s Job Vacancy Survey, 38 percent of current job vacancies in Massachusetts require an associate’s degree or higher. This represents an increase from 30 percent in 2003. Consequently, the level of education that the immigrant population attains is of vital importance to everyone—not only to immigrant students and their families but also to the economic well-being of the entire region. The Task Force was charged with researching the barriers to higher education faced by this new wave of immigrants and suggesting recommendations to address those barriers. The 36-member Task Force was made up of representatives from Consortium member institutions; federal, state and local governments; community and faithbased organizations; the Worcester Public Schools; the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education; and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition. Meetings were held over six months, during which the Task Force identified three main barriers faced by immigrant communities in accessing higher education, and sub-committees were created to work on each of these. Speakers were invited to present on topics of interest. Two public hearings were held, the first of which was conducted at Worcester State College in October. It attracted community representatives, as well as college and high school faculty and administrators. The second hearing, held at the downtown branch of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) in December, was attended by immigrants (English for Speakers of Other Languages – ESOL and GED) students as well as QCC staff.Published versio

Low-frequency cortical activity is a neuromodulatory target that tracks recovery after stroke.

Recent work has highlighted the importance of transient low-frequency oscillatory (LFO; &lt;4 Hz) activity in the healthy primary motor cortex during skilled upper-limb tasks. These brief bouts of oscillatory activity may establish the timing or sequencing of motor actions. Here, we show that LFOs track motor recovery post-stroke and can be a physiological target for neuromodulation. In rodents, we found that reach-related LFOs, as measured in both the local field potential and the related spiking activity, were diminished after stroke and that spontaneous recovery was closely correlated with their restoration in the perilesional cortex. Sensorimotor LFOs were also diminished in a human subject with chronic disability after stroke in contrast to two non-stroke subjects who demonstrated robust LFOs. Therapeutic delivery of electrical stimulation time-locked to the expected onset of LFOs was found to significantly improve skilled reaching in stroke animals. Together, our results suggest that restoration or modulation of cortical oscillatory dynamics is important for the recovery of upper-limb function and that they may serve as a novel target for clinical neuromodulation

Variability in MRI vs. ultrasound measures of prostate volume and its impact on treatment recommendations for favorable-risk prostate cancer patients: a case series

Background: Prostate volume can affect whether patients qualify for brachytherapy (desired size ≥20 mL and ≤60 mL) and/or active surveillance (desired PSA density ≤0.15 for very low risk disease). This study examines variability in prostate volume measurements depending on imaging modality used (ultrasound versus MRI) and volume calculation technique (contouring versus ellipsoid) and quantifies the impact of this variability on treatment recommendations for men with favorable-risk prostate cancer. Methods: We examined 70 patients who presented consecutively for consideration of brachytherapy for favorable-risk prostate cancer who had volume estimates by three methods: contoured axial ultrasound slices, ultrasound ellipsoid (height × width × length × 0.523) calculation, and endorectal coil MRI (erMRI) ellipsoid calculation. Results: Average gland size by the contoured ultrasound, ellipsoid ultrasound, and erMRI methods were 33.99, 37.16, and 39.62 mLs, respectively. All pairwise comparisons between methods were statistically significant (all p < 0.015). Of the 66 patients who volumetrically qualified for brachytherapy on ellipsoid ultrasound measures, 22 (33.33%) did not qualify on ellipsoid erMRI or contoured ultrasound measures. 38 patients (54.28%) had PSA density ≤0.15 ng/dl as calculated using ellipsoid ultrasound volumes, compared to 34 (48.57%) and 38 patients (54.28%) using contoured ultrasound and ellipsoid erMRI volumes, respectively. Conclusions: The ultrasound ellipsoid and erMRI ellipsoid methods appeared to overestimate ultrasound contoured volume by an average of 9.34% and 16.57% respectively. 33.33% of those who qualified for brachytherapy based on ellipsoid ultrasound volume would be disqualified based on ultrasound contoured and/or erMRI ellipsoid volume. As treatment recommendations increasingly rely on estimates of prostate size, clinicians must consider method of volume estimation