The Millstone Grit Group (Pennsylvanian) of the Northumberland-Solway Basin and Alston Block of northern England

In the Northumberland–Solway Basin and Alston Block of northern England, some aspects of the stratigraphical and sedimentological relationships between the Millstone Grit Group, the Stainmore Formation (Namurian part of the Yoredale Group) and the Westphalian Pennine Coal Measures Group are uncertain. Also, confusion has resulted from discontinuation of Millstone Grit as a formal lithostratigraphical term north of the Stainmore Basin. This paper presents the evidence for, and describes the nature of, a Kinderscoutian (early Pennsylvanian) abrupt transition from typical ‘Yoredale cyclicity’, characterized by marine limestones in a dominantly siliciclastic succession but including marked fluvial channels, to a sandstone-dominated fluvial succession recognizable as the Millstone Grit Group. Sandbodies present in this region are probably the fluvial feeder systems to many of the fluvio-deltaic successions recorded farther south in the Central Pennine Basin. However, onset of the Millstone Grit Group occurs much earlier to the south, during the Pendleian (late Mississippian), despite the entry of fluvial systems into the Central Pennines Basin from the north. In addition to explaining this counter-intuitive relationship, the paper also recognizes continuation of the fluvial regime into the lowermost part of the Pennine Coal Measures Group

Approximate Quantum Cloning with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Here we describe a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiment that uses a three qubit NMR device to implement the one to two approximate quantum cloning network of Buzek et al.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX4 including 5 postscript figures. Submitted to PR

Improving Predictions for Helium Emission Lines

We have combined the detailed He I recombination model of Smits with the collisional transitions of Sawey & Berrington in order to produce new accurate helium emissivities that include the effects of collisional excitation from both the 2 (3)S and 2 (1) S levels. We present a grid of emissivities for a range of temperature and densities along with analytical fits and error estimates. Fits accurate to within 1% are given for the emissivities of the brightest lines over a restricted range for estimates of primordial helium abundance. We characterize the analysis uncertainties associated with uncertainties in temperature, density, fitting functions, and input atomic data. We estimate that atomic data uncertainties alone may limit abundance estimates to an accuracy of 1.5%; systematic errors may be greater than this. This analysis uncertainty must be incorporated when attempting to make high accuracy estimates of the helium abundance. For example, in recent determinations of the primordial helium abundance, uncertainties in the input atomic data have been neglected.Comment: ApJ, accepte

Approaches to improving breast screening uptake: evidence and experience from Tower Hamlets

This paper reports on an innovative whole-systems approach to improving uptake of breast screening in Tower Hamlets, a deprived borough in the East End of London with a large minority ethnic population. The approach, developed by the public health team at NHS Tower Hamlets, draws on analysis of needs and existing literature about effective interventions to promote breast screening. Social marketing research led to a campaign targeted at Bangladeshi women, together with a range of initiatives to promote breast screening through primary care services and community outreach through local well-known organisations. The breast screening service itself was upgraded and a new service specification is being introduced from April 2009

Point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections to improve birth outcomes in high-burden, low-income settings: Study protocol for a cluster randomized crossover trial (the WANTAIM Trial, Papua New Guinea) [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis , Neisseria gonorrhoeae , Trichomonas vaginalis and bacterial vaginosis have been associated with preterm birth and low birth weight, and are highly prevalent among pregnant women in many low- and middle-income settings. There is conflicting evidence on the potential benefits of screening and treating these infections in pregnancy. Newly available diagnostic technologies make it possible, for the first time, to conduct definitive field trials to fill this knowledge gap. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether antenatal point-of-care testing and immediate treatment of these curable sexually transmitted and genital infections (STIs) leads to reduction in preterm birth and low birth weight. Methods : The Women and Newborn Trial of Antenatal Interventions and Management (WANTAIM) is a cluster-randomised crossover trial in Papua New Guinea to compare point-of-care STI testing and immediate treatment with standard antenatal care (which includes the WHO-endorsed STI ‘syndromic’ management strategy based on clinical features alone without laboratory confirmation). The unit of randomisation is a primary health care facility and its catchment communities. The primary outcome is a composite measure of two events: the proportion of women and their newborns in each trial arm, who experience either preterm birth (delivery <37 completed weeks of gestation as determined by ultrasound) and/or low birth weight (<2500 g measured within 72 hours of birth). The trial will also evaluate neonatal outcomes, as well as the cost-effectiveness, acceptability and health system requirements of this strategy, compared with standard care. Conclusions: WANTAIM is the first randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, acceptability and health system requirements of point-of-care STI testing and treatment to improve birth outcomes in high-burden settings. If the intervention is proven to have an impact, the trial will hasten access to these technologies and could improve maternal and neonatal health in high-burden settings worldwide. Registration: ISRCTN37134032

Stable isotope analysis provides new information on winter habitat use of declining avian migrants that is relevant to their conservation

Winter habitat use and the magnitude of migratory connectivity are important parameters when assessing drivers of the marked declines in avian migrants. Such information is unavailable for most species. We use a stable isotope approach to assess these factors for three declining African-Eurasian migrants whose winter ecology is poorly known: wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix, house martin Delichon urbicum and common swift Apus apus. Spatially segregated breeding wood warbler populations (sampled across a 800 km transect), house martins and common swifts (sampled across a 3,500 km transect) exhibited statistically identical intra-specific carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in winter grown feathers. Such patterns are compatible with a high degree of migratory connectivity, but could arise if species use isotopically similar resources at different locations. Wood warbler carbon isotope ratios are more depleted than typical for African-Eurasian migrants and are compatible with use of moist lowland forest. The very limited variance in these ratios indicates specialisation on isotopically restricted resources, which may drive the similarity in wood warbler populations' stable isotope ratios and increase susceptibility to environmental change within its wintering grounds. House martins were previously considered to primarily use moist montane forest during the winter, but this seems unlikely given the enriched nature of their carbon isotope ratios. House martins use a narrower isotopic range of resources than the common swift, indicative of increased specialisation or a relatively limited wintering range; both factors could increase house martins' vulnerability to environmental change. The marked variance in isotope ratios within each common swift population contributes to the lack of population specific signatures and indicates that the species is less vulnerable to environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa than our other focal species. Our findings demonstrate how stable isotope research can contribute to understanding avian migrants' winter ecology and conservation status

Point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted and genital infections during pregnancy in Papua New Guinea (WANTAIM trial): protocol for an economic evaluation alongside a cluster-randomised trial

INTRODUCTION: Left untreated, sexually transmitted and genital infections (henceforth STIs) in pregnancy can lead to serious adverse outcomes for mother and child. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has among the highest prevalence of curable STIs including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis, and high neonatal mortality rates. Diagnosis and treatment of these STIs in PNG rely on syndromic management. Advances in STI diagnostics through point-of-care (PoC) testing using GeneXpert technology hold promise for resource-constrained countries such as PNG. This paper describes the planned economic evaluation of a cluster-randomised cross-over trial comparing antenatal PoC testing and immediate treatment of curable STIs with standard antenatal care in two provinces in PNG. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Cost-effectiveness of the PoC intervention compared with standard antenatal care will be assessed prospectively over the trial period (2017-2021) from societal and provider perspectives. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios will be calculated for the primary health outcome, a composite measure of the proportion of either preterm birth and/or low birth weight; for life years saved; for disability-adjusted life years averted; and for non-health benefits (financial risk protection and improved health equity). Scenario analyses will be conducted to identify scale-up options, and budget impact analysis will be undertaken to understand short-term financial impacts of intervention adoption on the national budget. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis will be conducted to account for uncertainty in key model inputs. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board of the PNG Institute of Medical Research; the Medical Research Advisory Committee of the PNG National Department of Health; the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of New South Wales; and the Research Ethics Committee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Findings will be disseminated through national stakeholder meetings, conferences, peer-reviewed publications and policy briefs. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN37134032

Quantitative analysis of WC stars: Constraints on neon abundances from ISO/SWS spectroscopy

Neon abundances are derived in four Galactic WC stars -- gamma Vel (WR11, WC8+O7.5III), HD156385 (WR90, WC7), HD192103 (WR135, WC8), and WR146 (WC5+O8) - using mid-infrared fine structure lines obtained with ISO/SWS. Stellar parameters for each star are derived using a non-LTE model atmospheric code (Hillier & Miller 1998) together with ultraviolet (IUE), optical (INT, AAT) and infrared (UKIRT, ISO) spectroscopy. In the case of gamma Vel, we adopt results from De Marco et al. (2000), who followed an identical approach. ISO/SWS datasets reveal the [NeIII] 15.5um line in each of our targets, while [NeII] 12.8um, [SIV] 10.5um and [SIII] 18.7um are observed solely in gamma Vel. Using a method updated from Barlow et al. (1988) to account for clumped winds, we derive Ne/He=3-4x10^-3 by number, plus S/He=6x10^-5 for gamma Vel. Neon is highly enriched, such that Ne/S in gamma Vel is eight times higher than cosmic values. However, observed Ne/He ratios are a factor of two times lower than predictions of current evolutionary models of massive stars. An imprecise mass-loss and distance were responsible for the much greater discrepancy in neon content identified by Barlow et al. Our sample of WC5--8 stars span a narrow range in T* (=55--71kK), with no trend towards higher temperature at earlier spectral type, supporting earlier results for a larger sample by Koesterke & Hamann (1995). Stellar luminosities range from 100,000 to 500,000 Lo, while 10^-5.1 < Mdot/(Mo/yr) < 10^-4.5, adopting clumped winds, in which volume filling factors are 10%. In all cases, wind performance numbers are less than 10, significantly lower than recent estimates. Carbon abundances span 0.08 < C/He < 0.25 by number, while oxygen abundances remain poorly constrained.Comment: 16 pages,7 figures accepted for MNRA

Passerine Birds Breeding under Chronic Noise Experience Reduced Fitness

Background Fitness in birds has been shown to be negatively associated with anthropogenic noise, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. It is however crucial to understand the mechanisms of how urban noise impinges on fitness to obtain a better understanding of the role of chronic noise in urban ecology. Here, we examine three hypotheses on how noise might reduce reproductive output in passerine birds: (H1) by impairing mate choice, (H2) by reducing territory quality and (H3) by impeding chick development. Methodology/Principal Findings We used long-term data from an island population of house sparrows, Passer domesticus, in which we can precisely estimate fitness. We found that nests in an area affected by the noise from large generators produced fewer young, of lower body mass, and fewer recruits, even when we corrected statistically for parental genetic quality using a cross-fostering set-up, supporting H3. Also, individual females provided their young with food less often when they bred in the noisy area compared to breeding attempts by the same females elsewhere. Furthermore, we show that females reacted flexibly to increased noise levels by adjusting their provisioning rate in the short term, which suggests that noise may be a causal factor that reduces reproductive output. We rejected H1 and H2 because nestbox occupancy, parental body mass, age and reproductive investment did not differ significantly between noisy and quiet areas. Conclusions/Significance Our results suggest a previously undescribed mechanism to explain how environmental noise can reduce fitness in passerine birds: by acoustically masking parent–offspring communication. More importantly, using a cross-fostering set-up, our results demonstrate that birds breeding in a noisy environment experience significant fitness costs. Chronic noise is omnipresent around human habitation and may produces similar fitness consequences in a wide range of urban bird species

Search for Charginos with a Small Mass Difference with the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for charginos nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest supersymmetric particle is performed using the 176 pb^-1 of data collected at 189 GeV in 1998 with the L3 detector. Mass differences between the chargino and the lightest supersymmetric particle below 4 GeV are considered. The presence of a high transverse momentum photon is required to single out the signal from the photon-photon interaction background. No evidence for charginos is found and upper limits on the cross section for chargino pair production are set. For the first time, in the case of heavy scalar leptons, chargino mass limits are obtained for any \tilde{\chi}^{+-}_1 - \tilde{\chi}^0_1 mass difference