130 research outputs found
Ethnic disparities in quality of diabetes care in Scotland:a national cohort study
Aims: The aim of this study is to compare quality of diabetes care in people with type 2 diabetes by ethnicity, in Scotland. Methods: Using a linked national diabetes registry, we included 162,122 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2009 and 2018. We compared receipt of nine guideline indicated processes of care in the first-year post-diabetes diagnosis using logistic regression, comparing eight ethnicity groups to the White group. We compared annual receipt of HbA1c and eye screening during the entire follow-up using generalised linear mixed effects. All analyses adjusted for confounders. Results: Receipt of diabetes care was lower in other ethnic groups compared to White people in the first-year post-diagnosis. Differences were most pronounced for people in the: African, Caribbean or Black; Indian; and other ethnicity groups for almost all processes of care. For example, compared to White people, odds of HbA1c monitoring were: 44% lower in African, Caribbean or Black people (OR 0.56 [95% CI 0.48, 0.66]); 47% lower in Indian people (OR 0.53 [95% CI 0.47, 0.61]); and 50% lower in people in the other ethnicity group (OR 0.50 [95% CI 0.46, 0.58]). Odds of receipt of eye screening were 30%–40% lower in most ethnic groups compared to the White group. During median 5 year follow-up, differences in HbA1c monitoring and eye screening largely persisted, but attenuated slightly for the former. Conclusions: There are marked ethnic disparities in routine diabetes care in Scotland in the short- and medium-term following diabetes diagnosis. Further investigation is needed to establish and effectively address the underlying reasons.</p
Characterization and Prevalence of a New Porcine Calicivirus in Swine, United States
Real-time reverse transcription PCR revealed that new St-Valerien–like porcine caliciviruses are prevalent (2.6%–80%; 23.8% overall) in finisher pigs in North Carolina. One strain, NC-WGP93C, shares 89.3%–89.7% genomic nucleotide identity with Canadian strains. Whether these viruses cause disease in pigs or humans or are of food safety concern requires further investigation
Fundamental properties of Fanaroff-Riley II radio galaxies investigated via Monte Carlo simulations
[Abridged] Radio galaxies and quasars are among the largest and most powerful
single objects known and are believed to have had a significant impact on the
evolving Universe and its large scale structure. We explore the intrinsic and
extrinsic properties of the population of FRII objects (kinetic luminosities,
lifetimes, and the central densities of their environments). In particular, the
radio and kinetic luminosity functions of FRIIs are investigated using the
complete, flux limited radio catalogues of 3CRR and Best et al. We construct
multidimensional Monte Carlo simulations using semi-analytical models of FRII
radio source growth to create artificial samples of radio galaxies. Unlike
previous studies, we compare radio luminosity functions found with both the
observed and simulated data to explore the fundamental source parameters. We
allow the source physical properties to co-evolve with redshift, and we find
that all the investigated parameters most likely undergo cosmological
evolution. Strikingly, we find that the break in the kinetic luminosity
function must undergo redshift evolution of at least (1+z)^3. The fundamental
parameters are strongly degenerate, and independent constraints are necessary
to draw more precise conclusions. We use the estimated kinetic luminosity
functions to set constraints on the duty cycles of these powerful radio
sources. A comparison of the duty cycles of powerful FRIIs with those
determined from radiative luminosities of AGN of comparable black hole mass
suggests a transition in behaviour from high to low redshifts, corresponding to
either a drop in the typical black hole mass of powerful FRIIs at low
redshifts, or a transition to a kinetically-dominated, radiatively-inefficient
FRII population.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. 30 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables + online material
(in appendix): 9 pages, 14 figure
X-ray Emission from Optically Selected Radio-Intermediate and Radio-Loud Quasars
We present the results of an investigation into the X-ray properties of
radio-intermediate and radio-loud quasars (RIQs and RLQs, respectively). We
combine large, modern optical (e.g., SDSS) and radio (e.g., FIRST) surveys with
archival X-ray data from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and ROSAT to generate an
optically selected sample that includes 188 RIQs and 603 RLQs. This sample is
constructed independently of X-ray properties but has a high X-ray detection
rate (85%); it provides broad and dense coverage of the l-z plane, including at
high redshifts (22% of objects have z=2-5), and it extends to high
radio-loudness values (33% of objects have R*=3-5, using logarithmic units). We
measure the "excess" X-ray luminosity of RIQs and RLQs relative to radio-quiet
quasars (RQQs) as a function of radio loudness and luminosity, and parameterize
the X-ray luminosity of RIQs and RLQs both as a function of optical/UV
luminosity and also as a joint function of optical/UV and radio luminosity.
RIQs are only modestly X-ray bright relative to RQQs; it is only at high values
of radio-loudness (R*>3.5) and radio luminosity that RLQs become strongly X-ray
bright. We find no evidence for evolution in the X-ray properties of RIQs and
RLQs with redshift (implying jet-linked IC/CMB emission does not contribute
substantially to the nuclear X-ray continuum). Finally, we consider a model in
which the nuclear X-ray emission contains both disk/corona-linked and
jet-linked components and demonstrate that the X-ray jet-linked emission is
likely beamed but to a lesser degree than applies to the radio jet. This model
is used to investigate the increasing dominance of jet-linked X-ray emission at
low inclinations.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 42 pages, 21 figures, 10 tables; version with
full-res figures at http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~mbrendan/rlqx.htm
- …