Lead, zinc and copper mineralisation in basal Carboniferous sediments at Westwater, south Scotland

A zioneo f lead, zinc and copperm ineralisatioins developedo ver a minimum I of 4 km of strikeo f basal Carboniferoucse mentstoneg roup sedimentsa nd immediatelyu nderlyingB irrenswarkL avas atwestwater,n ear Laqholm in south Scotland. Grades so far obtained from sparse rock exposures and from shallow boreholes a fissure sulphides are usuallyO .l-O.j%o f combinedm etals over 1-2 m of thickness,bu t vein of higher grade and a relativelyt hick zone of disseminated were also located. Galena, sphalerite,c halcopyritea ndbaryte occur mainly in thin dolomitev eins but disseminationosf galenaa re also presenti n sandstoneu nits. The mineralisatioins of low temperaturet ype I was emplaceda long northeasterlyt rendingn ormal faultsa nd cross faults regardeda s late Carboniferouisn age. and Mineralisatiohna s been controlledb y faulting,r egionalf aciesv aziation and local lithologicalv ariationa s well as by stratigraphipco sition. These controlsa re applicablei n furthere xplorationo f Lower Carboniferourso cks in both south and central Scotland. The heavy mineral fraction of stream sediment is the optimums amplingt ype in reconnaissanceex plorationo f areas of calcareous . rocks such as the Lower Carboniferouso f south Scotlanda nd basal till sampling is the most effectivem ethod of follow-upe xplorationi n those areas where glaciald epositsa re widespreada nd often thick

Sensitive Observations of Radio Recombination Lines in Orion and W51: The Data and Detection of Systematic Recombination Line Blueshifts Proportional to Impact Broadening

Sensitive spectral observations made in two frequency bands near 6.0 and 17.6 GHz are described for Orion and W51. Using frequency switching we were able to achieve a dynamic range in excess of 10,000 without fitting sinusoidal or polynomial baselines. This enabled us to detect lines as weak as T$_{A} ~1mK in these strong continuum sources. Hydrogen recombination lines with$\Delta n$ as high as 25 have been detected in Orion. In the Orion data, where the lines are stronger, we have also detected a systematic shift in the line center frequencies proportional to linewidth that cannot be explained by normal optical depth effects.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

The diagnostic pathway experiences of people living with rare dementia and their family caregivers: A cross-sectional mixed methods study using qualitative and economic analyses

YesThe pathways for receiving a diagnosis of a rare type of dementia are poorly understood. Diagnostic challenges decrease access to relevant health promotion activities and post-diagnostic support. This study was focused on pathways experienced by people affected by rare dementia in Wales, United Kingdom (UK), considering the practical, emotional, and economic consequences. Semi-structured interviews were completed with 10 people affected by rare dementia across Wales, UK (nine family caregivers and one person living with rare dementia). The interview data were subject to a thematic analysis and a bottom-up costing approach was used to cost the pathway journeys. Five transitional points occurred across the diagnostic pathway (initial contact, initial referral, further referrals—provider, further referrals—private, and diagnosis) alongside two further themes (i.e., involved in the diagnostic process and disputes between stakeholders). The timeliness of the diagnosis was perceived to often be subject to ‘luck’, with access to private healthcare a personal finance option to expedite the process. Higher economic costs were observed when, in retrospect, inappropriate referrals were made, or multiple referrals were required. The confusion and disputes relating to individual diagnostic pathways led to further emotional burdens, suggesting that higher economic costs and emotional consequences are interlinked. Clearer diagnostic pathways for rare dementia may prevent unnecessary service contacts, waiting times, and associated distress. Prioritising appropriate and timely service contacts leads to diagnosis and support to families and enables people to increase control over their health. Appropriate diagnostic pathways may be less costly and reduce costs for families.This work is part of the Rare Dementia Support Impact project (The impact of multicomponent support groups for those living with rare dementia, (ES/S010467/1)) and is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation. Rare Dementia Support is generously supported by the National Brain Appeal (https://www.nationalbrainappeal.org/ (accessed on 1 December 2023)). The work is also funded by the Wales Centre of Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR), a collaboration between Bangor, Swansea, and Aberystwyth universities funded by Health and Care Research Wales

A cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the 'Girls Active' intervention: a study protocol

Background: Despite the health benefits of physical activity, data from the UK suggest that a large proportion of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This is particularly evident in girls, who are less active than boys across all ages and may display a faster rate of decline in physical activity throughout adolescence. The ‘Girls Active’ intervention has been designed by the Youth Sport Trust to target the lower participation rates observed in adolescent girls. ‘Girls Active’ uses peer leadership and marketing to empower girls to influence decision making in their school, develop as role models and promote physical activity to other girls. Schools are provided with training and resources to review their physical activity, sport and PE provision, culture and practices to ensure they are relevant and attractive to adolescent girls.  Methods/Design: This study is a two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) aiming to recruit 20 secondary schools. Clusters will be randomised at the school level (stratified by school size and proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils) to receive either the ‘Girls Active’ intervention or carry on with usual practice (1:1). The 20 secondary schools will be recruited from state secondary schools within the Midlands area. We aim to recruit 80 girls aged 11–14 years in each school. Data will be collected at three time points; baseline and seven and 14months after baseline. Our primary aim is to investigate whether ‘Girls Active’ leads to higher objectively measured (GENEActiv) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in adolescent girls at 14months after baseline assessment compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include other objectively measured physical activity variables, adiposity, physical activity-related psychological factors and the cost-effectiveness of the ‘Girls Active’ intervention. A thorough process evaluation will be conducted during the course of the intervention delivery.  Discussion: The findings of this study will provide valuable information on whether this type of school-based approach to increasing physical activity in adolescent girls is both effective and cost-effective in the UK

Sharp Trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya Inequalities and the Fractional Laplacian

In this work we establish trace Hardy and trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequalities with best Hardy constants, for domains satisfying suitable geometric assumptions such as mean convexity or convexity. We then use them to produce fractional Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequalities with best Hardy constants for various fractional Laplacians. In the case where the domain is the half space our results cover the full range of the exponent $s \in (0,1)$ of the fractional Laplacians. We answer in particular an open problem raised by Frank and Seiringer \cite{FS}.Comment: 42 page

Partitioned trace distances

New quantum distance is introduced as a half-sum of several singular values of difference between two density operators. This is, up to factor, the metric induced by so-called Ky Fan norm. The partitioned trace distances enjoy similar properties to the standard trace distance, including the unitary invariance, the strong convexity and the close relations to the classical distances. The partitioned distances cannot increase under quantum operations of certain kind including bistochastic maps. All the basic properties are re-formulated as majorization relations. Possible applications to quantum information processing are briefly discussed.Comment: 8 pages, no figures. Significant changes are made. New section on majorization is added. Theorem 4.1 is extended. The bibliography is enlarged

Hardy's inequality and curvature

A Hardy inequality of the form \int_{\tilde{\Omega}} |\nabla f({\bf{x}})|^p d {\bf{x}} \ge (\frac{p-1}{p})^p \int_{\tilde{\Omega}} \{1 + a(\delta, \partial \tilde{\Omega})(\x)\}\frac{|f({\bf{x}})|^p}{\delta({\bf{x}})^p} d{\bf{x}}, for all $f \in C_0^{\infty}({\tilde{\Omega}})$, is considered for $p\in (1,\infty)$, where ${\tilde{\Omega}}$ can be either $\Omega$ or $\mathbb{R}^n \setminus \Omega$ with $\Omega$ a domain in $\mathbb{R}^n$, $n \ge 2$, and $\delta({\bf{x}})$ is the distance from ${\bf{x}} \in {\tilde{\Omega}}$ to the boundary $\partial {\tilde{\Omega}}.$ The main emphasis is on determining the dependance of $a(\delta, \partial {\tilde{\Omega}})$ on the geometric properties of $\partial {\tilde{\Omega}}.$ A Hardy inequality is also established for any doubly connected domain $\Omega$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ in terms of a uniformisation of $\Omega,$ that is, any conformal univalent map of $\Omega$ onto an annulus

Continuity of the Maximum-Entropy Inference

We study the inverse problem of inferring the state of a finite-level quantum system from expected values of a fixed set of observables, by maximizing a continuous ranking function. We have proved earlier that the maximum-entropy inference can be a discontinuous map from the convex set of expected values to the convex set of states because the image contains states of reduced support, while this map restricts to a smooth parametrization of a Gibbsian family of fully supported states. Here we prove for arbitrary ranking functions that the inference is continuous up to boundary points. This follows from a continuity condition in terms of the openness of the restricted linear map from states to their expected values. The openness condition shows also that ranking functions with a discontinuous inference are typical. Moreover it shows that the inference is continuous in the restriction to any polytope which implies that a discontinuity belongs to the quantum domain of non-commutative observables and that a geodesic closure of a Gibbsian family equals the set of maximum-entropy states. We discuss eight descriptions of the set of maximum-entropy states with proofs of accuracy and an analysis of deviations.Comment: 34 pages, 1 figur

Binding Energy of Charged Excitons in ZnSe-based Quantum Wells

Excitons and charged excitons (trions) are investigated in ZnSe-based quantum well structures with (Zn,Be,Mg)Se and (Zn,Mg)(S,Se) barriers by means of magneto-optical spectroscopy. Binding energies of negatively () and positively (X+) charged excitons are measured as functions of quantum well width, free carrier density and in external magnetic fields up to 47 T. The binding energy of shows a strong increase from 1.4 to 8.9 meV with decreasing quantum well width from 190 to 29 A. The binding energies of X+ are about 25% smaller than the binding energy in the same structures. The magnetic field behavior of and X+ binding energies differ qualitatively. With growing magnetic field strength, increases its binding energy by 35-150%, while for X+ it decreases by 25%. Zeeman spin splittings and oscillator strengths of excitons and trions are measured and discussed

Stream and slope weathering effects on organic-rich mudstone geochemistry and implications for hydrocarbon source rock assessment: a Bowland Shale case study

This study contributes to the exploration and quantification of the weathering of organic-rich mudstones under temperate climatic conditions. Bowland Shales, exposed by a stream and slope, were sampled in order to develop a model for the effects of weathering on the mudstone geochemistry, including major and trace element geochemistry, Rock-Eval pyrolysis and δ13Corg. Four weathering grades (I – IV) are defined using a visual classification scheme; visually fresh and unaltered (I), chemically altered (II, III) and ‘paper shale’ that typifies weathered mudstone on slopes (IV). Bedload abrasion in the stream exposes of visually fresh and geochemically unaltered mudstone. Natural fractures are conduits for oxidising meteoric waters that promote leaching at the millimetre scale and/or precipitation of iron oxide coatings along fracture surfaces. On the slope, bedding-parallel fractures formed (and may continue to form) in response to chemical and/or physical weathering processes. These fractures develop along planes of weakness, typically along laminae comprising detrital grains, and exhibit millimetre- and centimetre-scale leached layers and iron oxide coatings. Fracture surfaces are progressively exposed to physical weathering processes towards the outcrop surface, and results in disintegration of the altered material along fracture surfaces. Grade IV, ‘paper shale’ mudstone is chemically unaltered but represents a biased record driven by initial heterogeneity in the sedimentary fabric. Chemically weathered outcrop samples exhibit lower concentrations of both ‘free’ (S1) (up to 0.6 mgHC/g rock) and ‘bound’ (S2) (up to 3.2 mgHC/g rock) hydrocarbon, reduced total organic carbon content (up to 0.34 wt%), reduced hydrogen index (up to 58 mgHC/gTOC), increased oxygen index (up to 19 mgCO + CO2/gTOC) and increased Tmax (up to 11 °C) compared with unaltered samples. If analysis of chemically weathered samples is unavoidable, back-extrapolation of Rock-Eval parameters can assist in the estimation of pre-weathering organic compositions. Combining Cs/Cu with oxygen index is a proxy for identifying the weathering progression from fresh material (I) to ‘paper shale’ (IV). This study demonstrates that outcrop samples in temperate climates can provide information for assessing hydrocarbon potential of organic-rich mudstones