8,608 research outputs found
Now the wars are over: The past, present and future of Scottish battlefields
Battlefield archaeology has provided a new way of appreciating historic battlefields. This paper provides a summary of the long history of warfare and conflict in Scotland which has given rise to a large number of battlefield sites. Recent moves to highlight the archaeological importance of these sites, in the form
of Historic Scotlandâs Battlefields Inventory are discussed, along with some of the problems associated with the preservation and management of these important
cultural sites
Baby-Step Giant-Step Algorithms for the Symmetric Group
We study discrete logarithms in the setting of group actions. Suppose that
is a group that acts on a set . When , a solution
to can be thought of as a kind of logarithm. In this paper, we study
the case where , and develop analogs to the Shanks baby-step /
giant-step procedure for ordinary discrete logarithms. Specifically, we compute
two sets such that every permutation of can be
written as a product of elements and . Our
deterministic procedure is optimal up to constant factors, in the sense that
and can be computed in optimal asymptotic complexity, and and
are a small constant from in size. We also analyze randomized
"collision" algorithms for the same problem
Psychological interventions to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The quality of evidence that psychological interventions are effective in improving glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is weak.
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions in T2D to assess whether their effectiveness in improving glycemic levels has improved over the past 30 years. We applied the protocol of a systematic review and aggregate meta-analysis conducted to January 2003. We added network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare intervention and control group type against usual care. MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Database, Web of Science, and Dissertation Abstracts International were searched from January 2003 to July 2018. Only randomized controlled trials (RCT) of psychological interventions for adults with T2D reported in any language were included. The primary outcome was change in glycemic control (glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in mmol/mol). Data were extracted from study reports and authors were contacted for missing data.
94 RCTs were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review since the last review. In 70 RCTs (n=14 796 participants) the pooled mean difference in HbA1c in those randomized to psychological intervention compared with control group was â0.19 (95% CI â0.25 to â0.12), equivalent to a reduction in HbA1c of 3.7 mmol/mol, with moderate heterogeneity across studies (I2=64.7%, p<0.001). NMA suggested the probability of intervention effectiveness is highest for self-help materials, cognitiveâbehavioral therapy, and counseling, compared with usual care. Limitations of this study include that there is a possibility that some studies may have been missed if diabetes did not appear in the title or abstract.
The effectiveness of psychological interventions for adults with T2D have minimal clinical benefit in improving glycemic control.
PROSPERO registration number CRD42016033619
Is subdiffusional transport slower than normal?
We consider anomalous non-Markovian transport of Brownian particles in
viscoelastic fluid-like media with very large but finite macroscopic viscosity
under the influence of a constant force field F. The viscoelastic properties of
the medium are characterized by a power-law viscoelastic memory kernel which
ultra slow decays in time on the time scale \tau of strong viscoelastic
correlations. The subdiffusive transport regime emerges transiently for t<\tau.
However, the transport becomes asymptotically normal for t>>\tau. It is shown
that even though transiently the mean displacement and the variance both scale
sublinearly, i.e. anomalously slow, in time, ~ F t^\alpha,
~ t^\alpha, 0<\alpha<1, the mean displacement at each instant
of time is nevertheless always larger than one obtained for normal transport in
a purely viscous medium with the same macroscopic viscosity obtained in the
Markovian approximation. This can have profound implications for the
subdiffusive transport in biological cells as the notion of "ultra-slowness"
can be misleading in the context of anomalous diffusion-limited transport and
reaction processes occurring on nano- and mesoscales
Systematic review and metaâanalysis of randomized controlled trials of psychological interventions to improve glycaemic control in children and adults with type 1 diabetes
Aim
We conducted a systematic review aggregate and network metaâanalysis of psychological interventions for people with type 1 diabetes to assess their effectiveness in improving glycaemic levels.
Methods
We searched the following databases from 1 January 2003 to 1 July 2018: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Controlled Trials, Web of Science, clinicaltrials.gov, Dissertation Abstract International. We included randomized controlled trials (RCT) of psychological interventions for children and adults with type 1 diabetes reported in any language. We extracted data on publications, participant characteristics at baseline, intervention and control group, and data for the primary outcome, change in glycaemic control [HbA1c (mmol/mol/%)]. Study authors were contacted for missing data. The review was registered with international prospective register of systematic reviews registration (PROSPERO) CRD42016033619.
Results
Twentyâfour adult RCTs and 23 of children with type 1 diabetes were included in the systematic review. In aggregate metaâanalysis there was no overall effect of psychological intervention compared with control on HbA1c [adults, nine RCTs, n = 1102, pooled mean difference â0.12, 95% confidence intervals (CI) â0.27 to 0.03, I2 = 29.0%, P = 0.19; children, 20 RCTs, n = 2567, â0.09, 95% CI â0.22 to 0.04, I2=54.0% P=0.002]. Network metaâanalysis suggested that probability and rankâordering of effectiveness is highest for attention control groups (b = â0.47, 95% CI â0.80 to â0.12) followed by cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (â0.26, 95% CI â0.45 to â0.06) compared with usual care for adults.
Conclusions
Overall psychological interventions for children and adults with type 1 diabetes do not improve glycaemic control. For adults, CBTâbased interventions have the potential to be effective
HOw patients view extended halfâlife products: impressions from realâworld experience (The HOPE study)
Introduction
Extended halfâlife (EHL) clotting factors have been shown to offer people with haemophilia (PwH) protection from bleeding with fewer infusions, which might reduce treatment burden.
Aim
The HOw Patients view Extended halfâlife products (HOPE) study aimed to explore, understand and describe patient expectations around the prophylactic use of EHL products and to establish whether these expectations were met through individual followâup analysis.
Methods
The HOPE study was a prospective, qualitative cohort study conducted among PwH who had switched to Fc fusion protein EHL products in routine clinical care and who had not been recruited to clinical trials of these products. Semiâstructured audioârecorded interviews were undertaken over two time points; transcripts were analysed to systematically generate theory from data that contains both inductive and deductive thinking.
Results
Fortyâthree interviews were conducted with 25 participants. Most participants were positive about EHL treatment and intended to continue using them. Reduced frequency of infusions meant lives were less disrupted or dominated by haemophilia, and there was less perceived stress on overused veins. For those PwH who did not reduce infusion frequency, there were other perceived benefits from EHLs with respect to greater protection with higher trough levels and fewer bleeds.
Conclusion
Patients switching to EHL treatments believe these products will result in fewer infusions and less disruption of everyday life, leaving them feeling more protected with fewer bleeds and increased activity levels, as well as enhanced wellâbeing and mental health. Understanding patient expectation and experience around using products adds realâworld data to clinical trial experience
The classification of frequencies in the {\gamma} Doradus / {\delta} Scuti hybrid star HD 49434
Hybrid stars of the {\gamma} Doradus and {\delta} Scuti pulsation types have
great potential for asteroseismic analysis to explore their interior structure.
To achieve this, mode identi- fications of pulsational frequencies observed in
the stars must be made, a task which is far from simple. In this work we begin
the analysis by scrutinizing the frequencies found in the CoRoT photometric
satellite measurements and ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy of the
hybrid star HD 49434. The results show almost no consistency between the
frequencies found using the two techniques and no characteristic period
spacings or couplings were identified in either dataset. The spectroscopic data
additionally show no evidence for any long term (5 year) variation in the
dominant frequency. The 31 spectroscopic frequencies identified have standard
deviation profiles suggesting multiple modes sharing (l, m) in the {\delta}
Scuti frequency region and several skewed modes sharing the same (l, m) in the
{\gamma} Doradus frequency region. In addition, there is a clear frequency in
the {\gamma} Doradus frequency region that appears to be unrelated to the
others. We conclude HD 49434 remains a {\delta} Scuti/ {\gamma} Doradus
candidate hybrid star but more sophisticated models dealing with rotation are
sought to obtain a clear picture of the pulsational behaviour of this star.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS December 201
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