1,785 research outputs found
The construction of the risk of falling among and by older people
Risk is frequently invoked in contemporary accounts of ill health, but its construction is often constrained by a rationalist perspective that focuses on physical causes and functional outcomes, and that presents risk as external to the self and predictable. This paper describes an empirical study of the ways in which risk was realised and managed in a day hospital for older people. An ethnographic approach, with participant observation and semi-structured interviews, and discourse analysis were used to explore these issues with the staff and fifteen users. Whilst the service providers were orientated to the management of physical risk, as through the regimes for administering medication and their attention to risk reduction in the physical environment, the service users were more concerned with the risk to their personal and social identities, and they more frequently described its manifestations in inter-personal exchanges, sometimes as infantalisation and stereotyping. The paper develops this understanding of the potential for falls among older people to elucidate a broader interpretation of risk, and reveals that it is commonly constructed as a challenge to a person's self-image and identity. Such constructions help to explain older people's responses to complex health problems and to the services and treatments that attempt to solve them
Power Spectrum Analysis of the 2dF QSO Sample Revisited
We revisit the power spectrum analysis of the complete sample of the two
degree field (2dF) QSO redshift (2QZ) survey, as a complementary test of the
work by Outram et al. (2003). A power spectrum consistent with that of the 2QZ
group is obtained. Differently from their approach, fitting of the power
spectrum is investigated incorporating the nonlinear effects, the geometric
distortion and the light-cone effect. It is shown that the QSO power spectrum
is consistent with the cold dark matter (CDM) model with the matter
density parameter . Our constraint on the density
parameter is rather weaker than that of the 2QZ group. We also show that the
constraint slightly depends on the equation of state parameter of the dark
energy. The constraint on from the QSO power spectrum is demonstrated,
though it is not very tight.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Cosmological redshift distortion: deceleration, bias and density parameters from future redshift surveys of galaxies
The observed two-point correlation functions of galaxies in redshift space
become anisotropic due to the geometry of the universe as well as due to the
presence of the peculiar velocity field. On the basis of linear perturbation
theory, we expand the induced anisotropies of the correlation functions with
respect to the redshift , and obtain analytic formulae to infer the
deceleration parameter , the density parameter and the
derivative of the bias parameter at in terms of the
observable statistical quantities. The present method does not require any
assumption of the shape and amplitude of the underlying fluctuation spectrum,
and thus can be applied to future redshift surveys of galaxies including the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also evaluate quantitatively the systematic error
in estimating the value of from a galaxy
redshift survey on the basis of a conventional estimator for which
neglects both the geometrical distortion effect and the time evolution of the
parameter . If the magnitude limit of the survey is as faint as 18.5
(in B-band) as in the case of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the systematic
error ranges between -20% and 10% depending on the cosmological parameters.
Although such systematic errors are smaller than the statistical errors in the
current surveys, they will dominate the expected statistical error for future
surveys.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figs, aastex, ApJ in press, replaced version includes
minor correction
Can Geometric Test Probe the Cosmic Equation of State ?
Feasibility of the geometric test as a probe of the cosmic equation of state
of the dark energy is discussed assuming the future 2dF QSO sample. We examine
sensitivity of the QSO two-point correlation functions, which are theoretically
computed incorporating the light-cone effect and the redshift distortions, as
well as the nonlinear effect, to a bias model whose evolution is
phenomenologically parameterized. It is shown that the correlation functions
are sensitive on a mean amplitude of the bias and not to the speed of the
redshift evolution. We will also demonstrate that an optimistic geometric test
could suffer from confusion that a signal from the cosmological model can be
confused with that from a stochastic character of the bias.Comment: 11 pages, including 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Redshift-space Distortions of the Power Spectrum of Cosmological Objects on a Light Cone : Explicit Formulations and Theoretical Implications
We examine the effects of the linear and the cosmological redshift-space
distortions on the power spectrum of cosmological objects on a light cone. We
develop theoretical formulae for the power spectrum in linear theory of density
perturbations in a rigorous manner starting from first principle corresponding
to Fourier analysis. Approximate formulae, which are useful properly to
incorporate the redshift-space distortion effects into the power spectrum are
derived, and the validity is examined. Applying our formulae to galaxy and
quasar samples which roughly match the SDSS survey, we will show how the
redshift-space distortions distort the power spectrum on the light cone
quantitatively.Comment: 30 pages, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
Supplement Serie
Complete Treatment of Galaxy Two-Point Statistics: Gravitational Lensing Effects and Redshift-Space Distortions
We present a coherent theoretical framework for computing gravitational
lensing effects and redshift-space distortions in an inhomogeneous universe and
investigate their impacts on galaxy two-point statistics. Adopting the
linearized FRW metric, we derive the gravitational lensing and the generalized
Sachs-Wolfe effects that include the weak lensing distortion, magnification,
and time delay effects, and the redshift-space distortion, Sachs-Wolfe, and
integrated Sachs-Wolfe effects, respectively. Based on this framework, we first
compute their effects on observed source fluctuations, separating them as two
physically distinct origins: the volume effect that involves the change of
volume and is always present in galaxy two-point statistics, and the source
effect that depends on the intrinsic properties of source populations. Then we
identify several terms that are ignored in the standard method, and we compute
the observed galaxy two-point statistics, an ensemble average of all the
combinations of the intrinsic source fluctuations and the additional
contributions from the gravitational lensing and the generalized Sachs-Wolfe
effects. This unified treatment of galaxy two-point statistics clarifies the
relation of the gravitational lensing and the generalized Sachs-Wolfe effects
to the metric perturbations and the underlying matter fluctuations. For near
future dark energy surveys, we compute additional contributions to the observed
galaxy two-point statistics and analyze their impact on the anisotropic
structure. Thorough theoretical modeling of galaxy two-point statistics would
be not only necessary to analyze precision measurements from upcoming dark
energy surveys, but also provide further discriminatory power in understanding
the underlying physical mechanisms.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, Fig.4 corrected, appendix added, accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Radial Redshift Space Distortions
The radial component of the peculiar velocities of galaxies cause
displacements in their positions in redshift space. We study the effect of the
peculiar velocities on the linear redshift space two point correlation
function. Our analysis takes into account the radial nature of the redshift
space distortions and it highlights the limitations of the plane parallel
approximation. We consider the problem of determining the value of \beta and
the real space two point correlation function from the linear redshift space
two point correlation function. The inversion method proposed here takes into
account the radial nature of the redshift space distortions and can be applied
to magnitude limited redshift surveys that have only partial sky coverage.Comment: 26 pages including 11 figures, to appear in Ap
Calcific aortic valve disease and hypertension
This review addresses the role of hypertension in precipitating Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) and the therapeutic potential of anti-hypertensive interventions to ameliorate CAVD. CAVD was originally considered to be a degenerative disease representing the "wear and tear" of the aortic valves. More recently both conceptually and experimentally, CAVD has come to be considered the result of an active disease process, Whilst, there are some common factors in the pathology and risk factors for atherosclerosis and CAVD there are also some distinct differences. Hypertension is an established risk factor for coronary artery disease and has been recognised as a risk factor for CAVD. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors have been found to have beneficial effects in CAVD and as in atherosclerosis such effects may be due to the blood pressure lowering action but also to direct pleiotropic effects on the biochemical and cellular mechanisms of disease progression in the respective tissues. The very high prevalence of hypertension in the community coupled with an aging population, a risk factor associated with both hypertension and CAVD, infers that hypertension will be one of the predominant factors that increase the impact of CAVD on human health in the coming decades
Rehabilitation professionals' perceptions of the use of new visualisation software tools with people with stroke
Purpose: Theenvisageprogramme of research was funded to explore and evaluate the use of visualisation software tools using biomechanical data within rehabilitation. Three work packages were developed to evaluate the impact of the tools within stroke rehabilitation. The research presented here aimed at exploring the perceptions of rehabilitation therapists about the use of the visualisation software tools in the context of future randomised controlled trials and stroke rehabilitation practice. Methods: Sixteen therapists working in a range of stroke rehabilitation contexts participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview questions explored their current practice, and the perceived impact of the new visualisation technologies on their workplace environment and practice. Framework analysis was used to analyse the textual data. Results: In general, the stroke therapists were enthusiastic about the potential application of the visualisation software tools. Three themes were identified through qualitative framework analysis: potential uses of the visualisation tools; integration within current service provision; and trial involvement. Conclusions: The study highlights important contextual considerations which may impact significantly on the success of novel technologies in stroke rehabilitation. Normalisation process theory was proposed as a useful process evaluation methodology to optimise both trial evaluation and future service implementation
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