303 research outputs found
Gossip Codes for Fingerprinting: Construction, Erasure Analysis and Pirate Tracing
This work presents two new construction techniques for q-ary Gossip codes
from tdesigns and Traceability schemes. These Gossip codes achieve the shortest
code length specified in terms of code parameters and can withstand erasures in
digital fingerprinting applications. This work presents the construction of
embedded Gossip codes for extending an existing Gossip code into a bigger code.
It discusses the construction of concatenated codes and realisation of erasure
model through concatenated codes.Comment: 28 page
The determinants of hotels' marketing managers' green marketing behaviour
Little is known about the factors underlying the pro-environmental behaviour of marketing managers. This paper explores the determinants of green marketing practices in the Red Sea hotel sector in Egypt. The research model assesses green marketing practices against the personal and organisational values of the marketing managers, together with a range of organisational and demographic variables expected to influence hotels' environmental behaviour. From a valid sample of 89 marketing managers responsible for 194 hotels, it was found that organisational contextual variables, and in particular targeting Western tourists, being affiliated to an international hotel chain and the marketers' own demographics, including age, academic subject studied and gender, were the best predictors of more proactive green marketing. Personal environmental values did not explain the pro-environmental behaviour of marketers, and the organisational environmental values that had explained part of their ethical behaviour had resulted from voluntarism rather than utilitarian or conformance-based values. Government policies also appeared to be ineffective determinants. The implications for green marketing practices are also discussed. © 2010 Taylor & Francis
Gapless quantum spin liquid in the triangular system SrCuSbO
We report gapless quantum spin liquid behavior in the layered triangular
SrCuSbO (SCSO) system. X-ray diffraction shows superlattice
reflections associated with atomic site ordering into triangular Cu planes
well-separated by Sb planes. Muon spin relaxation (SR) measurements show
that the moments at the magnetically active Cu sites remain
dynamic down to 65 mK in spite of a large antiferromagnetic exchange scale
evidenced by a large Curie-Weiss temperature
-143 K as extracted from the bulk susceptibility. Specific heat measurements
also show no sign of long-range order down to 0.35 K. The magnetic specific
heat () below 5 K reveals a
+ behavior. The
significant contribution to the magnetic specific heat invites a
phenomenology in terms of the so-called Dirac spinon excitations with a linear
dispersion. From the low- specific heat data, we estimate the dominant
exchange scale to be 36 K using a Dirac spin liquid ansatz which is not
far from the values inferred from microscopic density functional theory
calculations ( 45 K) as well as high-temperature susceptibility analysis
( 70 K). The linear specific heat coefficient is about 18 mJ/mol-K
which is somewhat larger than for typical Fermi liquids.Comment: 16 pages, 21 figures, including supplementary material. A Dirac spin liquid scenario has been put forward to explain the
field-dependent specific heat data. Comments are welcom
Higher risk of renal impairment associated with tenofovir use amongst people living with HIV in India: A comparative cohort analysis between Western India and United Kingdom
Background:
Data on the renal safety of Tenofovir (TDF) in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) is scarce. We compared development of various forms of renal impairment with use of TDF-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) between a cohort from the Institute of Infectious Diseases (IID) Pune, Western India and the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) London, UK.
Methods:
This is a retrospective analysis of change in estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) at 6, 12 and 24 months post TDF initiation using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation. In people living with Human Immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) with pre-TDF eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73 m2 time to development of and factors associated with progression to eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 were calculated using standard survival methods.
Results:
A total of 574 (59% Caucasian) at the RFH, and 708 (100% Indian ethnicity) PLHIV from IID were included. Baseline median eGFR were similar; RFH 102 (IQR 89, 117), IID 100 (82, 119). At 24 months, mean (SD) decline in eGFR was -7(21) at RFH (p 90 ml/min/1.73 m2 PLHIV at IID were more likely to develop an eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (aHR = 7.6 [95% CI 3.4, 17.4] p < 0.0001) and had a faster rate of progression estimated using Kaplan Meier methods. Risk factors included age (per 10 years older: aHR = 2.21 [1.6, 3.0] p < 0.0001) and receiving concomitant ritonavir boosted Protease Inhibitor (PI/r) (aHR = 2.4 [1.2, 4.8] p = 0.01).
Conclusions:
There is higher frequency of treatment limiting renal impairment events amongst PLHIV receiving TDF in Western India. As TDF scale up progresses, programs need to develop capacity for monitoring and treatment of renal impairment associated with TDF
Young HIV-Infected Children and Their Adult Caregivers Prefer Tablets to Syrup Antiretroviral Medications in Africa
Background: Provision of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected children is complicated using syrup formulations, which are costlier than tablets, harder to transport and store and difficult for health-workers to prescribe and caregivers to administer. Dispersible/crushable tablets may be more appropriate. We studied the acceptability of syrups and scored tablets among young children who used both in the AntiRetroviral Research fOr Watoto (ARROW) trial. Methods: ARROW is an ongoing randomized trial of paediatric ART monitoring and treatment strategies in 1206 children in Uganda and Zimbabwe. 405 children initially received syrups of combination ART including Nevirapine, Zidovudine, Abacavir and Lamivudine before changing, when reaching the 12-,15 kg weightband, to scored adult-dose tablets prescribed according to WHO weightband tables. Caregiver expectations and experiences were collected in questionnaires at their last visit on syrups and after 8 and 24 weeks on tablets. Results: Questionnaires were completed by caregivers of 267 children (median age 2.9 years (IQR 2.5, 3.4)). At last visit on syrups, 79 % caregivers reported problems with syrups, mostly related to number, weight, transportation and conspicuousness of bottles. Difficulties taking tablets were expected by 127(48%) caregivers; however, after 8 and 24 weeks, only 26 % and 18 % reported their children had problems with tablets and no problems were reported with transportation/conspicuousness. Taste, swallowing or vomiting were reported as problems ‘sometimes/often ’ for 14%, 9%
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