Could NICE guidance on the choice of blood pressure lowering drugs be simplified?

Reecha Sofat and colleagues argue that prescribing advice needs updating in the light of recent evidence that all classes of blood pressure lowering drugs are broadly equivalen

Compositional variation of laurite at Union Section in the Western Bushveld Complex

One hundred and forty five grains of laurite in polished sections of samples from one borehole through the major chromitite layers and some chromite-bearing silicate rocks of the Lower and Critical Zones of the western Bushveld Complex at Union Section have been located and analysed by scanning electron microscope. Ninety per cent by number of laurite grains are included within chromite, with the remainder being located on chromite-silicate grain boundaries, and in interstitial silicates and sulphides. The composition of laurite shows considerable variation within individual samples. Furthermore, there is no apparent correlation between whole-rock Ru and Cr contents in our samples, arguing against a model whereby laurite exsolved from the chromite lattice. Based on a well-defined correlation between whole-rock S, PPGE (Rh+Pt+Pd), and IPGE (Os+Ir+Ru) contents, we favour a mechanism whereby laurite crystallized from segregating sulphide melt and was subsequently entrapped by growing chromite grains

Test your surrogate data before you test for nonlinearity

The schemes for the generation of surrogate data in order to test the null hypothesis of linear stochastic process undergoing nonlinear static transform are investigated as to their consistency in representing the null hypothesis. In particular, we pinpoint some important caveats of the prominent algorithm of amplitude adjusted Fourier transform surrogates (AAFT) and compare it to the iterated AAFT (IAAFT), which is more consistent in representing the null hypothesis. It turns out that in many applications with real data the inferences of nonlinearity after marginal rejection of the null hypothesis were premature and have to be re-investigated taken into account the inaccuracies in the AAFT algorithm, mainly concerning the mismatching of the linear correlations. In order to deal with such inaccuracies we propose the use of linear together with nonlinear polynomials as discriminating statistics. The application of this setup to some well-known real data sets cautions against the use of the AAFT algorithm.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Measuring Information Transfer

An information theoretic measure is derived that quantifies the statistical coherence between systems evolving in time. The standard time delayed mutual information fails to distinguish information that is actually exchanged from shared information due to common history and input signals. In our new approach, these influences are excluded by appropriate conditioning of transition probabilities. The resulting transfer entropy is able to distinguish driving and responding elements and to detect asymmetry in the coupling of subsystems.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figures, Revte

Taxing the Informal Economy: The Current State of Knowledge and Agendas for Future Research

This paper reviews the literature on taxation of the informal economy, taking stock of key debates and drawing attention to recent innovations. Conventionally, the debate on whether to tax has frequently focused on the limited revenue potential, high cost of collection, and potentially adverse impact on small firms. Recent arguments have increasingly emphasised the more indirect benefits of informal taxation in relation to economic growth, broader tax compliance, and governance. More research is needed, we argue, into the relevant costs and benefits for all, including quasi-voluntary compliance, political and administrative incentives for reform, and citizen-state bargaining over taxation

Inter-species variation in colour perception

Inter-species variation in colour perception poses a serious problem for the view that colours are mind-independent properties. Given that colour perception varies so drastically across species, which species perceives colours as they really are? In this paper, I argue that all do. Specifically, I argue that members of different species perceive properties that are determinates of different, mutually compatible, determinables. This is an instance of a general selectionist strategy for dealing with cases of perceptual variation. According to selectionist views, objects simultaneously instantiate a plurality of colours, all of them genuinely mind-independent, and subjects select from amongst this plurality which colours they perceive. I contrast selectionist views with relationalist views that deny the mind-independence of colour, and consider some general objections to this strategy

Reactive plasma atomization of aluminum nitride powder

Experiments were performed to synthesize AlN powders by reacting Al with N using a conventional dc arc plasma as heat source. Feeding Al powder into Ar/N plasma open to atmosphere produced mainly Al oxide. Experiments using a chamber backfilled with nitrogen suppressed the Al oxide, but little AlN was formed. A furnace and crucible assembly was designed to feed molten Al directly into a DeLaval nozzle attached to the face of the dc arc plasma gun. Resulting submicron powders show a significant increase in AlN formation. This was dependent on chamber pressure, plasma velocity, and molten liquid feed rate. Experimental parameters, equipment design, effects of atomization/vaporization/condensation are discussed

The non-linear response of the magnetosphere: 30 October 1978

Previous efforts to find evidence of deterministic nonlinear dynamics in the global geomagnetic system have treated the geomagnetic system as autonomous. However, the geomagnetic system is strongly driven by the stochastic solar wind. We consider the response of the magnetosphere, as given by the AE index, for one day when the IMF had a nearly constant southward value. Using both a series of non-linear statistics and non-linear prediction of the response to the input signal $v B_s$, we find that there is some evidence for deterministic non-linear response of the Earth's magnetosphere on that day.Comment: 4 pages, Postscript file compressed and uuencoded, made with uufiles scrip

Use of satellite telemetry to evaluate movements of caribou within subsistence hunting areas in northern Alaska

Caribou from the Teshekpuk Herd (TH) are an important subsistence resource for residents of Inupiaq villages in northern Alaska. In recent years the use of satellite telemetry has increased the understanding of the herd's annual movements and interactions with other herds. Most caribou of the TH are within the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska (NPRA) throughout the year. The northeastern portion of NPRA has undergone two lease sales for oil and gas exploration, and lease sales are tentatively scheduled for the central/northwest portion of the NPRA in 2004. During 1990—1999, the movements of 27 caribou from the TH were tracked using satellite collars. We evaluated the proportion of time caribou were available to Inupiaq hunters by incorporating maps depicting subsistence-use areas for each of seven Inupiaq villages, and then examining seasonal and annual movements of caribou relative to those areas. By combining caribou locations with subsistence hunting areas, we were able to explore spatial and temporal patterns in caribou availability to subsistence hunters. This information is useful for managers to set appropriate hunting regulations and for devising sensible alternatives and mitigation of likely petroleum development in NPRA