125 research outputs found
Expenditure-based segmentation and visitor profiling at The Quays in Salford, UK
There is a substantial body of literature relating to tourism’s
economic impact at the macro level, but less is known about tourist
expenditure at a micro scale. This paper reports findings from a
survey of day-visitor expenditure by category at The Quays in Salford,
UK. Expenditure is influenced strongly by the visitor’s age,
frequency of visitation and visit motivation. Heavy, medium and
light expenditure segments and associated profiles are identified.
‘Heavy spenders’ are more likely to be female, in a family group and
have shopping as the main motivation for the visit. The implications
of the findings are discussed
Co-design with Integrated Care Teams: Establishing Information Needs
Introduction: Co-design has been cited as playing a major role in the future of effective integrated care, however, there is a lack of reporting and reflection on the methods used. Information sharing is fundamental when working in integrated care, however sharing across professions, service settings and localities can be complex. Through co-design, we seek to establish a shared understanding of information needs within a newly formed integrated care team. In doing so we aim to inform future practice in the understanding of co-design. Description: Co-design Workshop 1 (N = 24 participants, plus 6 facilitators), collected ‘Current Position’ understanding of service information needs. Co-design Workshop 2 (N = 18 participants, plus 6 facilitators) sought a ‘Future Position’ understanding, identifying solutions and next steps for establishing information-need solutions. Reflection on the co-design process was conducted to inform future co-design practices. Conclusion: Identified was a wide range of future service information needs under the themes of Culture Building, Health System Needs, and Processes. We conclude with 4 key learning points on co-designing. 1. Ensure simplicity in format. 2. Interdisciplinary co-design and co-facilitation of workshops are beneficial. 3. Planning and preparation are key. 4. Co-designing can enhance communication for service improvement
Impact of a quadrivalent meningococcal ACWY glycoconjugate or a serogroup B meningococcal vaccine on meningococcal carriage: an observer-blind, phase 3 randomised clinical trial
Background: Meningococcal conjugate vaccines protect individuals directly, but also confer herd protection by interrupting carriage transmission. This Phase III observer-blind, randomised, controlled study evaluated the effects of meningococcal quadrivalent (ACWY) glycoconjugate (MenACWY-CRM) or serogroup B (4CMenB) vaccination on meningococcal carriage rates in young adults.
Methods: University students (aged 18–24 years) from ten sites in England were randomised to receive two vaccinations one month apart: two doses of Japanese Encephalitis vaccine (controls), two doses of 4CMenB (4CMenB), or one dose of MenACWY-CRM then placebo (MenACWY-CRM). Meningococci were isolated from oropharyngeal swabs collected before vaccination and at five scheduled intervals over one year. Primary analysis was cross-sectional carriage one month after the vaccine course; secondary analyses included comparison of carriage at any time point after primary analysis until study termination.
Findings: 2954 subjects were randomised (control, n=987; 4CMenB, n=988; MenACWY-CRM, n=979); approximately one-third of each group was positive for meningococcal carriage at study entry. By one month, there was no significant difference in carriage between controls and 4CMenB (Odds Ratios (OR) [95% CI]; 1·2 [0·8−1·7]) or MenACWY-CRM (OR [95% CI], 0·9 [0·6–1·3]) groups. From three months after dose two, 4CMenB vaccination resulted in significantly lower carriage of any meningococcal strain (calculated efficacy 18·2% [95% CI: 3·4–30·8]) and capsular groups BCWY (calculated efficacy 26·6% [95% CI: 10·5–39·9]) compared to control vaccination. Significantly lower carriage rates were also observed in the MenACWY-CRM group compared with controls: calculated efficacies 39·0% [95%CI: 17·3-55·0] and 36.2% [95%CI: 15·6-51·7] for serogroups Y and CWY, respectively.
Interpretation: MenACWY-CRM and 4CMenB vaccines reduced meningococcal carriage rates over 12 months post-vaccination and, therefore, may affect transmission where widely implemented
De Sitter Holography and the Cosmic Microwave Background
We interpret cosmological evolution holographically as a renormalisation
group flow in a dual Euclidean field theory, as suggested by the conjectured
dS/CFT correspondence. Inflation is described by perturbing around the
infra-red fixed point of the dual field theory. The spectrum of the cosmic
microwave background radiation is determined in terms of scaling violations in
the field theory. The dark energy allows similar, albeit less predictive,
considerations. We discuss the cosmological fine-tuning problems from the
holographic perspective.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, uses JHEP style files; corrected and added
reference
Performance of a Neutron Polarimeter to Measure the Electric Form Factor of the Neutron
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Quasielastic 12C(e,e'p) Reaction at High Momentum Transfer
We measured the 12C(e,e'p) cross section as a function of missing energy in
parallel kinematics for (q,w) = (970 MeV/c, 330 MeV) and (990 MeV/c, 475 MeV).
At w=475 MeV, at the maximum of the quasielastic peak, there is a large
continuum (E_m > 50 MeV) cross section extending out to the deepest missing
energy measured, amounting to almost 50% of the measured cross section. The
ratio of data to DWIA calculation is 0.4 for both the p- and s-shells. At w=330
MeV, well below the maximum of the quasielastic peak, the continuum cross
section is much smaller and the ratio of data to DWIA calculation is 0.85 for
the p-shell and 1.0 for the s-shell. We infer that one or more mechanisms that
increase with transform some of the single-nucleon-knockout into
multinucleon knockout, decreasing the valence knockout cross section and
increasing the continuum cross section.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, Revtex (multicol, prc and aps styles), to appear
in Phys Rev
Threshold criterion for wetting at the triple point
Grand canonical simulations are used to calculate adsorption isotherms of
various classical gases on alkali metal and Mg surfaces. Ab initio adsorption
potentials and Lennard-Jones gas-gas interactions are used. Depending on the
system, the resulting behavior can be nonwetting for all temperatures studied,
complete wetting, or (in the intermediate case) exhibit a wetting transition.
An unusual variety of wetting transitions at the triple point is found in the
case of a specific adsorption potential of intermediate strength. The general
threshold for wetting near the triple point is found to be close to that
predicted with a heuristic model of Cheng et al. This same conclusion was drawn
in a recent experimental and simulation study of Ar on CO_2 by Mistura et al.
These results imply that a dimensionless wetting parameter w is useful for
predicting whether wetting behavior is present at and above the triple
temperature. The nonwetting/wetting crossover value found here is w circa 3.3.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Comparison of advanced gravitational-wave detectors
We compare two advanced designs for gravitational-wave antennas in terms of
their ability to detect two possible gravitational wave sources. Spherical,
resonant mass antennas and interferometers incorporating resonant sideband
extraction (RSE) were modeled using experimentally measurable parameters. The
signal-to-noise ratio of each detector for a binary neutron star system and a
rapidly rotating stellar core were calculated. For a range of plausible
parameters we found that the advanced LIGO interferometer incorporating RSE
gave higher signal-to-noise ratios than a spherical detector resonant at the
same frequency for both sources. Spheres were found to be sensitive to these
sources at distances beyond our galaxy. Interferometers were sensitive to these
sources at far enough distances that several events per year would be expected
To wet or not to wet: that is the question
Wetting transitions have been predicted and observed to occur for various
combinations of fluids and surfaces. This paper describes the origin of such
transitions, for liquid films on solid surfaces, in terms of the gas-surface
interaction potentials V(r), which depend on the specific adsorption system.
The transitions of light inert gases and H2 molecules on alkali metal surfaces
have been explored extensively and are relatively well understood in terms of
the least attractive adsorption interactions in nature. Much less thoroughly
investigated are wetting transitions of Hg, water, heavy inert gases and other
molecular films. The basic idea is that nonwetting occurs, for energetic
reasons, if the adsorption potential's well-depth D is smaller than, or
comparable to, the well-depth of the adsorbate-adsorbate mutual interaction. At
the wetting temperature, Tw, the transition to wetting occurs, for entropic
reasons, when the liquid's surface tension is sufficiently small that the free
energy cost in forming a thick film is sufficiently compensated by the fluid-
surface interaction energy. Guidelines useful for exploring wetting transitions
of other systems are analyzed, in terms of generic criteria involving the
"simple model", which yields results in terms of gas-surface interaction
parameters and thermodynamic properties of the bulk adsorbate.Comment: Article accepted for publication in J. Low Temp. Phy
Gravitational radiation from gamma-ray bursts as observational opportunities for LIGO and VIRGO
Gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate in core-collapse of massive stars.
This produces an active nucleus containing a rapidly rotating Kerr black hole
surrounded by a uniformly magnetized torus represented by two counter-oriented
current rings. We quantify black hole spin-interactions with the torus and
charged particles along open magnetic flux-tubes subtended by the event
horizon. A major output of Egw=4e53 erg is radiated in gravitational waves of
frequency fgw=500 Hz by a quadrupole mass-moment in the torus. Consistent with
GRB-SNe, we find (i) Ts=90s (tens of s, Kouveliotou et al. 1993), (ii)
aspherical SNe of kinetic energy Esn=2e51 erg (2e51 erg in SN1998bw, Hoeflich
et al. 1999) and (iii) GRB-energies Egamma=2e50 erg (3e50erg in Frail et al.
2001). GRB-SNe occur perhaps about once a year within D=100Mpc. Correlating
LIGO/Virgo detectors enables searches for nearby events and their spectral
closure density 6e-9 around 250Hz in the stochastic background radiation in
gravitational waves. At current sensitivity, LIGO-Hanford may place an upper
bound around 150MSolar in GRB030329. Detection of Egw thus provides a method
for identifying Kerr black holes by calorimetry.Comment: to appear in PRD, 49
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