A simple model for the kinetics of packaging of DNA in to a capsid against an external force

We propose a simple model for the kinetics of packaging of viral DNA in to a capsid against an external force trying to prevent it. The model leads to a Butler-Volmer type dependence of the rate of packaging on the pulling force F

Developing inclusive residential care for older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people: an evaluation of the Care Home Challenge action research project

There have been substantial achievements in legislative and human rights for Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older people and their visibility in health and social care has equally increased. These appear to have surpassed the ability of care services to meet their needs given documented concerns about the accessibility, inclusiveness and safety of care services particularly institutionalised care. This requires systemic change not easy to operationalise. This paper describes an action research initiative where six care homes belonging to a national care provider, collaborated to assess and develop their services with the support of local LGBT ‘Community Advisors’ and academic partners. Framed within Rogers’ (2003) change management framework and combined with a participatory leadership approach, a programme of intervention was implemented comprising structured activities around seven key areas thought to promote LGBT inclusion. A formal evaluation was conducted involving 35 pre and post intervention qualitative interviews with 18 people (community advisors; care home managers and senior managers). The findings are presented across three key themes 1) starting points on the journey; 2) challenges encountered along the journey (organisational and interpersonal); and, 3) making change happen; opportunities, initiatives and gains. We make recommendations on the value of a programme approach for achieving tangible outcomes that demonstrate increased inclusion for older LGBT older people living in long-term care settings

Vacuum-UV negative photoion spectroscopy of CH3F, CH3Cl and CH3Br

Using tunable vacuum-UV radiation from a synchrotron, negative ions are detected by quadrupolar mass spectrometry following photoexcitation of three gaseous halogenated methanes CH$_3$X (X = F,Cl,Br). The anions X$^-$, H$^-$, CX$^-$, CHX$^-$ and CH$_2$X$^-$ are observed, and their ion yields recorded in the range 8-35 eV. The anions show a linear dependence of signal with pressure, showing that they arise from unimolecular ion-pair dissociation, generically described as AB + h$v$ $\rightarrow$ A$^-$ + B$^+$ (+ neutrals). Absolute cross sections for ion-pair formation are obtained by calibrating the signal intensities with those of F$^-$ from both SF$_6$ and CF$_4$. The cross sections for formation of X$^-$ + CH$_3$$^+$ are much greater than for formation of CH$_2$X$^-$ + H$^+$. In common with many quadrupoles, the spectra of $m$/$z$ 1 (H$^-$) anions show contributions from all anions, and only for CH$_3$Br is it possible to perform the necessary subtraction to obtain the true H$^-$ spectrum. The anion cross sections are normalised to vacuum-UV absorption cross sections to obtain quantum yields for their production. The appearance energies of X$^-$ and CH$_2$X$^-$ are used to calculate upper limits to 298 K bond dissociation energies for D$^o$ (H$_3$C-X) and D$^o$ (XH$_2$C-H) which are consistent with literature values. The spectra suggest that most of the anions are formed indirectly by crossing of Rydberg states of the parent molecule onto an ion-pair continuum. The one exception is the lowest-energy peak of F$^-$ from CH$_3$F at 13.4 eV, where its width and lack of structure suggest it may correspond to a direct ion-pair transition

Acceptance and commitment therapy delivered in a dyad after a severe traumatic brain injury: a feasibility study

Objective: There is a high prevalence of complex psychological distress after a traumatic brain injury but limited evidence of effective interventions. We examined the feasibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy after a severe traumatic brain injury using the criteria, investigating a therapeutic effect, and reviewing the acceptability of measures, treatment protocol, and delivery method (in a dyad of two clients and a therapist). Method: Two male outpatients with severe traumatic brain injury and associated psychological distress jointly engaged in a seven session treatment program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles. Pre- and post-treatment measures of mood, psychological flexibility, and participation were taken in addition to weekly measures. Results: The intervention showed a therapeutic effect with one participant, and appeared to be acceptable for both participants with regard to program content, measures, and delivery mode by in a dyad. One participant showed both significant clinical and reliable change across several outcome measures including measures of mood and psychological flexibility. The second participant did not show a reduction in psychological inflexibility, but did show a significant drop in negative affect. Significant changes pre- to post-treatment for measures of participation were not indicated. Qualitatively, both participants engaged in committed action set in accordance with their values. Conclusions: This study suggests that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may be feasible to be delivered in a dyad with individuals who have a severe traumatic brain injury. A further test of its potential efficacy in a phase II clinical trial is recommended

Incorporating spatial correlations into multispecies mean-field models

In biology, we frequently observe different species existing within the same environment. For example, there are many cell types in a tumour, or different animal species may occupy a given habitat. In modeling interactions between such species, we often make use of the mean-field approximation, whereby spatial correlations between the locations of individuals are neglected. Whilst this approximation holds in certain situations, this is not always the case, and care must be taken to ensure the mean-field approximation is only used in appropriate settings. In circumstances where the mean-field approximation is unsuitable, we need to include information on the spatial distributions of individuals, which is not a simple task. In this paper, we provide a method that overcomes many of the failures of the mean-field approximation for an on-lattice volume-excluding birth-death-movement process with multiple species. We explicitly take into account spatial information on the distribution of individuals by including partial differential equation descriptions of lattice site occupancy correlations. We demonstrate how to derive these equations for the multispecies case and show results specific to a two-species problem. We compare averaged discrete results to both the mean-field approximation and our improved method, which incorporates spatial correlations. We note that the mean-field approximation fails dramatically in some cases, predicting very different behavior from that seen upon averaging multiple realizations of the discrete system. In contrast, our improved method provides excellent agreement with the averaged discrete behavior in all cases, thus providing a more reliable modeling framework. Furthermore, our method is tractable as the resulting partial differential equations can be solved efficiently using standard numerical techniques

Home energy renovation: UK owner-occupied householder uncertainties, information and data needs

Homes must become low energy, resilient to climate change and provide comfort for households, as part of the European renovation wave. Renovation involves millions of decisions and actions. Owner-occupied households are a key group of decision-makers, but with conflicting demands on their time and finances. Householders collect information from multiple sources. However, previous research has found that the detail of available information and data on renovation is difficult to find. Therefore, this paper aims to identify householder uncertainties and related information and data needs, to support early-stage energy renovation decision-making. Co-design has been found to be beneficial in designing energy demand reduction strategies, leading to meaningful outcomes for householders, however, it was found to lead to further information requirements. The open virtual information exchange reported here, inspired by co-design and virtual workshop approaches, was effective in identifying uncertainties and gathering feedback on information types and data to address them. Householders' require trusted specialists to visit the home in-person. The information identified could be shared via trials at renovation information hubs, potentially using digital apps to connect renovation opportunity, householders' and trusted practitioners. There is much householder uncertainty around housing renovation and more work is needed to move able-to-pay householders from renovation planning to renovation in practice

Estimating the masses of extra-solar planets

All extra-solar planet masses that have been derived spectroscopically are lower limits since the inclination of the orbit to our line-of-sight is unknown except for transiting systems. It is, however, possible to determine the inclination angle, i, between the rotation axis of a star and an observer's line-of-sight from measurements of the projected equatorial velocity (v sin i), the stellar rotation period (P_rot) and the stellar radius (R_star). This allows the removal of the sin i dependency of spectroscopically derived extra-solar planet masses under the assumption that the planetary orbits lie perpendicular to the stellar rotation axis. We have carried out an extensive literature search and present a catalogue of v sin i, P_rot, and R_star estimates for exoplanet host stars. In addition, we have used Hipparcos parallaxes and the Barnes-Evans relationship to further supplement the R_star estimates obtained from the literature. Using this catalogue, we have obtained sin i estimates using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis. This allows proper 1-sigma two-tailed confidence limits to be placed on the derived sin i's along with the transit probability for each planet to be determined. While a small proportion of systems yield sin i's significantly greater than 1, most likely due to poor P_rot estimations, the large majority are acceptable. We are further encouraged by the cases where we have data on transiting systems, as the technique indicates inclinations of ~90 degrees and high transit probabilities. In total, we estimate the true masses of 133 extra-solar planets. Of these, only 6 have revised masses that place them above the 13 Jupiter mass deuterium burning limit. Our work reveals a population of high-mass planets with low eccentricities and we speculate that these may represent the signature of different planetary formation mechanisms at work.Comment: 40 pages, 6 tables, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society after editing of Tables 1 & 6 for electronic publication. Html abstract shortened for astro-ph submissio